Justine Tot Tatarsky

I am a life-long, self-taught artist who has spent decades working with ceramic glazes on terracotta tiles, exploring a wide range of subject matter with a medium that has traditionally been purely decorative. The expression in my work ranges from whimsical and romantic to serious and intellectual, but is unified in style by my bold, flowing line-work. My love of color – bright and dramatic or subtle and nuanced – also defines my art, and my palette is nearly unlimited.

The imagery in my art reflects my multicultural upbringing – I was born in South Africa and raised in Taos, NM and here in the Bay Area.

My paintings are peopled by quirky creatures and characters and are life-affirming in their reflection of my love for the power of nature and the radiance of the human spirit. I am intrigued by the concepts of interrelatedness, mutability and the balance of yin and yang, and as well as exploring these holistic concepts through narrative, I convey them by forming images out of negative space and creating images within images, so some of the content in my pieces takes time to reveal itself.

My partner, Clive, and I make editions of my artworks in limited series, drawing and painting each of them entirely by hand, and kiln firing them at our home studio in the San Geronimo Valley. We mount my work on wooden backs for hanging, or leave it unmounted for installation. My work has been incorporated architecturally, indoors and outdoors, in both private homes and public spaces.