Born and raised in San Diego, Tamandra Michaels showed natural artistic talent at a very early age. While dissatisfied with crayons and paint by numbers, she traded up for graphite pencils in order to achieve greater detail in her drawings.  Art proved useful to her as a means of early expression. Born with a disability, a birth defect that causes paralysis, she grew up often feeling like an outsider. She found refuge in the unconditional acceptance of animals.


"As a child, I felt a very intense bond with animals, and believed that we shared some special unspoken understanding. After all, I spent the first few years of my life crawling around on all fours with them!"

That deep, spiritual connection to nature that is present in her work has been a long time in the making. With her love of animals and her artist's eye for detail, her drawings were uncannily accurate and sophisticated for her young years.


 

Tamandra continued to find expression from other influences close to her heart, film, music, and political issues. She began to include human subjects in her art. With a passion for performing arts, and a drive to paint about it, she has done portraits of various celebrities, and has even able to gift her works to many of them.

"It's an incredible feeling to express such deep feelings of respect and admiration for someone, and then to actually get the opportunity to share it with them personally".


That love of performing arts inspired a foray into acting, and that acting bug took her on a decade-long journey into self-discovery and growth. In the throes of such a safe and expressive state, she felt inspired to take an art class at Santa Monica College, where she found herself happily re-immersed in her first love. It was that art class (and inspiring teacher!) that took her back to her heart's true passion.


Recently returning to San Diego from a stint of Los Angeles living, Tamandra is pursuing her blossoming art career with passion and heart, always striving to communicate meaning and emotion. Dogs are her primary focus, because they represent for her the perfect manifestation of unconditional love. "The love that dogs share with us in such abundance is a gift. It's a gift that heals. It truly is medicine for the soul." Her adoration comes through in vivid, vibrant colors. And whether human or animal, Tamandra's depiction of the eyes (seemingly effortlessly) reveals the soul and spirit of her subject--as well as so much of her own.

When not in her studio, Tamandra spends her free time with her dog, Borias, whom she considers to be her 'heart dog".

"He really is a gem. A soul-mate. A once in a lifetime friend and partner."

So much, in fact, that she named her studio to celebrate their bond. As her assistance dog, Borias is never far from her side.

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