Tania Heben

Featured artist Tania Heben appeared on Colour In Your Life Season Four (4). Read a little bit about the artist here and support our site by joining and watching the episode below.

Born in Germany to Russian parents, Tania Heben arrived in Australia in 1950. After growing up in Queensland and before becoming a full-time artist, Tania spent 17 years working as a nurse and midwife – a profession that enabled her to work while traveling extensively. This well-seasoned traveler has spent time in Canada, Switzerland, England, and behind the Iron Curtain. In 1987 Tania moved to the Far North of Queensland, which she feels was an experience that helped her “really see color for the first time” and her use of brilliant color is undeniably one of the most well-known features of her work.

Tania’s works contrast vivid local scenes of people still influenced by the colonial settlement period of the 1800s with the lush tropical vegetation of the Australian Rain forest and Jungle. Tania’s paintings have been described as “Gauuinesque” with the strong influence of both Matisse and Gauguin in her work.

“I love the drama and colors of Queensland and local people fascinate me as they are so much a combination of the old and new. By way of record, I want to capture the architecture of the old Queensland-style buildings before they disappear.”

Tania’s paintings are included in the private collections of many well-known identities, and she has also exhibited in Beverly Hills, California, USA. Many artists avoid commissions but that is not Tania’s style. As her fame has spread, the bulk of her work has become commissioned. Because her style is so distinctive, clients have a good idea of how the finished work will look.

You can contact Tania Heben directly via her website here.

Episode: S04E01

Original Air Date: 3rd March 2013

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