About Tanya, the Artist~
Thank you for checking out my site, I appreciate you being here and wanting to learn more about me and the reasons why I create the custom welded steel art!
My name is Tanya, I go by she/her and I live with my Husband and 17 year old Son with our dogger Izzy and wildling of a cat named Archer.
We live near the Valley of The Moon, on the Traditional Homelands of the Pomo and Miwok Tribes in what is now called Sonoma. I grew up in the wilds of Alaska, beneath the Aurora and the Ravens, amongst the Moose and Birch Trees on the Traditional Homelands of the Tanana Tribe. This exposure gave me the deepest of appreciation for all of the gifts that Nature has for us, and gratitude for the opportunity to see some of those precious treasures and resources in their most natural of settings. My artwork has always come from a place in my heart where I feel I can try to share all of the magic of Nature in a simple and creative way.
The literal spark began for me in 1990 when I took an advanced sculpture class in college~the passion was instantly lit for metal art work when I made that first spark with the welder. 1997 I got my welding certificate and worked the field for a couple of years. 1999 I was working in a welding shop building frames for radiation machines for breast cancer treatments. A car accident on my way home one day changed my welding future, in my favor actually…the settlement from the driver going the wrong way down a one way street allowed me to buy equipment to work on my own projects from my home studio.
I also got laid off from that job since there was no ‘light duty’ to perform and my wrists were too injured from the accident for the heavy gauge material and equipment used. While I was recovering from the accident, I went to see an Acupuncturist, after a few treatments, they asked if I wanted to work in their office! So I worked with them for many years, becoming their office manager, while building my little welding side business. I built custom gates, and created portable barbecue grills out of water pressure tanks no longer in use, did trailer modifications and custom builds for clients storage needs.
It helped provide space to create the art that I so loved at the same time. Some of my pieces sold to one of the local LGBTQ bars that my then wife and I used to frequent. I created donated pieces for our local VFW and thoroughly enjoyed building that venture. I closed the shop because of pregnancy, childbirth and then a divorce followed by years of health issues while raising my son.
For many years, when my physical body wasn’t cooperating with me, I managed offices for Naturopathic Doctors, Acupuncturists and Herbalists. I worked for several of them while they treated my health issues when I really struggled with a diagnosis of celiac & microscopic colitis in 2015. I also trained and licensed in Esthetics, certifying in Oncology Esthetics and built up a thriving practice until covid shut my doors in March of 2020. If you have any interest in following my celiac journey, with tons of tips and information on how to achieve radiant skin from within, please visit me on Instagram @tanya.skintherapy, I would love to see you there too!
It was all of theses experiences that helped to lay out the foundation for my future, creating welded steel artwork, while also in gaining deeper understandings and sharing that information about health and skin …not usually a combo you might find together, I get it, but the two have been ever entwined since then for me.
It was during the great pause of the pandemic that I found my way back to the steel I so love to be around. My body had regained enough strength that I could finally work with the steel and allow it to help strengthen me even more. The opportunity to work with it again nourished my soul and filled my heart with purpose when all of the days seemed so very dark and heavy. It brought connection back for me when it seemed to be rapidly slipping away.
When my physical body allowed, working with steel has always been my preferred way to earn a living. Pregnancy, parenthood, celiac disease and colitis took me off track for a few years, stealing my strength. But I am back once again, this time with more purpose, vision and drive than I have ever felt!
There are many pieces that have been percolating in my head and heart over these last couple decades, I am really excited to bring them to life and share their messages with you!
Thank you for joining me on this journey, if you are inspired to create something in steel, or steel and glass, please reach out, I do so look forward to connecting!
