Tara Kelley-Cruz

20×20"
Mixed-media on cradled panel

What would a machine for heartbreak look like? Would it erase memories, or help us feel them fully?

Artist statement about the series: I’ve been reflecting on some of the hard parts of being human. Some of the things that cause anxieties and challenges. In this series, “Devices Facilitating Connection”, I imagined devices built not for productivity or power, but for connection. For listening. For feeling. For bridging challenges and deepening relationships.

This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Ready to hang.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide details about this painting.

12×12
Mixed-media on cradled panel

What if a machine could help us say the things that matter? This piece imagines an interface for honesty, for compassion, for listening and really hearing and not taking offense.

Artist statement about the series: I’ve been reflecting on some of the hard parts of being human. Some of the things that cause anxieties and challenges. In this series, “Devices Facilitating Connection”, I imagined devices built not for productivity or power, but for connection. For listening. For feeling. For bridging challenges and deepening relationships.

This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Ready to hang.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide details about this painting.

20×20"
Mixed-media on cradled panel

This “device” imagines the ease of surrender into vulnerability.

Artist statement about the series: I’ve been reflecting on some of the hard parts of being human. Some of the things that cause anxieties and challenges. In this series, “Devices Facilitating Connection”, I imagined devices built not for productivity or power, but for connection. For listening. For feeling. For bridging challenges and deepening relationships.

This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Ready to hang.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide details about this painting.

20×16
Mixed-media on cradled panel

Asking for help from others, from the Heavens - reaching out to find direction, some sort of plan for moving forward. Sometimes being in this place is the hardest and best place to be.

Artist statement about the series: I’ve been reflecting on some of the hard parts of being human. Some of the things that cause anxieties and challenges. In this series, “Devices Facilitating Connection”, I imagined devices built not for productivity or power, but for connection. For listening. For feeling. For bridging challenges and deepening relationships.

This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Ready to hang.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide details about this painting.

12×12
Mixed-media on cradled panel

If forgiveness could be engineered, it might hum softly, reminding us that guilt is heavy, and release is lighter. This piece asks: what if compassion began with ourselves?

Artist statement about the series: I’ve been reflecting on some of the hard parts of being human. Some of the things that cause anxieties and challenges. In this series, “Devices Facilitating Connection”, I imagined devices built not for productivity or power, but for connection. For listening. For feeling. For bridging challenges and deepening relationships.

This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Ready to hang.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide details about this painting.

14×14
Mixed-media on cradled panel

In an age of diminishing compassion and connection, let us imagine a device for helping to foster human warmth and softness between us.

Artist statement about the series: I’ve been reflecting on some of the hard parts of being human. Some of the things that cause anxieties and challenges. In this series, “Devices Facilitating Connection”, I imagined devices built not for productivity or power, but for connection. For listening. For feeling. For bridging challenges and deepening relationships.

This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Ready to hang.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide details about this painting.

12x12”
Mixed Media on Cradled Panel
This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Ready to hang.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide details about this painting. Tara also loves studio visits so contact her if you are in the Colorado Springs area for a studio tour!

12x12”
Mixed Media on Cradled Panel

Sealed with a UV protective top coat, ready to hang.

12x12”
Mixed Media on Cradled Panel

This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Finished edges. Ready to hang.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide details about this painting. Tara also loves studio visits so contact her if you are in the Colorado Springs area for a studio tour!

12x12”
Mixed Media on Cradled Panel
This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Framed. Ready to hang.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide details about this painting. Tara also loves studio visits so contact her if you are in the Colorado Springs area for a studio tour!

12x12”
Mixed Media on Cradled Panel

This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Finished edges. Ready to hang.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide details about this painting. Tara also loves studio visits so contact her if you are in the Colorado Springs area for a studio tour!

8x8”
Mixed Media on Cradled Panel

Framed. Ready to Hang

Cradled wood panel. This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide details about this painting. Tara also loves studio visits so contact her if you are in the Colorado Springs area for a studio tour!

14x11”
Mixed Media on Rives BFK Paper
AVAILABLE

This series of works on paper are heavily experimentational and use collage in a new way, which impacts the feel composition of the work. Layers of paper and paint, with various marks made with a variety of mark making implements, combine to create a rich, textured surface. This is an unframed painting on paper. This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide pricing and other details about this painting. Tara also loves studio visits so contact her if you are in the Colorado Springs area for a studio tour!

12x12”
Mixed Media on Cradled Panel
Framed. Ready to Hang.

Sealed with a UV protective top coat, ready to hang.

14×14”
Mixed Media on Cradled Panel
This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Ready to hang.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide details about this painting. Tara also loves studio visits so contact her if you are in the Colorado Springs area for a studio tour!

12x12”

SOLD

Mixed Media on Cradled Panel
This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Framed. Ready to hang.

SOLD

This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection. Finished edges. Ready to hang.

6x6”
SOLD

12x12”
Mixed Media on Wood Panel, Framed
SOLD

This piece has a beautiful, rich surface that is evidence of its history. Layers of paint and ephemera create a textured surface that Kelley-Cruz uses to tell a story of what makes us who we are. What things in our own histories have shaped us? Kelley-Cruz uses color and composition to create “visual poems” that are delicate and sometimes raw. This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat for protection.

6x6”
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Cradled Panel.
SOLD

This piece is part of my Night series. For most of my adult life, I've loved night time. It is a time that as an artist and as a freelance designer, I can work without interruption and really get into the flow of my creative process. This series explores the goings-on after most of the world has gone to sleep.

Through a layering technique, I have incorporated acrylic paint, collage, image transfers, and various mark making tools into this painting. This piece is on a 2” cradled wood panel. This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat and varnished for protection with a layer of cold wax. Ready to hang.

8x8”
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Cradled Panel.
SOLD

Play and experimentation is a big part of my process. This piece took shape through keeping in the mindset of play and enjoying the journey. Much like the way children play, I attempt to stay very much in the moment when creating a painting.

Through a layering technique, I have incorporated acrylic paint, collage, image transfers, and various mark making tools into this painting. This piece is on a 2” cradled wood panel. This painting is sealed with a UV Topcoat and varnished for protection with a layer of cold wax. Ready to hang.

INQUIRE
If you are interested in this piece, contact Tara. She will be happy to provide pricing and other details about this painting.