Welcome to Tamara Scott Art!!  Starting my art business has been a dream of mine since about 2015 and it has (partially!) become a reality!  I have participated in several art fairs and open studios in the Portland area. With the pandemic hitting in 2020, my forward motion in my business came to a halt. I am now newly retired and hoping to get my art business fully off the ground!

Here is a little background explaining why creating art is so important to me. Up until February of 2018, I had spent the majority of my nursing career (as an RN and as a PNP--pediatric nurse practitioner) working with extremely ill children and their families in pediatric oncology and pediatric palliative care.  I truly loved the work I did, even when facing the heartbreak of losing a dearly loved patient.  Walking families (and staff members, too) through those extremely difficult moments was truly a calling for me that I feel blessed to have had.  In recent years, my heart and soul were growing weary and the joy I had always felt in my career was rapidly changing to increasing feelings of grief and despair.  That’s where painting came into my life.  I have always been a crafty person, and consider myself a “hummingbird”—flitting between different arts and crafts like knitting, crocheting, spinning yarn, making Fimo clay earrings, etc.  I always wanted to paint, but never thought I could.  When I discovered mixed media art/painting, it felt like I had come home!  Suddenly I found that expressing my feelings through paint, collage, words, and color really helped to get the feelings out of me and open up space inside me so happiness and joy could enter!  Over time, I also discovered that I COULD do something (paint!) that I never thought I could.  That realization spilled over into my work life as well. The thought of making a huge change in my career felt terrifying to me!  I mean, after working in pediatric oncology and the pediatric palliative care for 28 of my 30 years as a nurse, how could I possibly know how to work as a pediatric nurse practitioner in outpatient pediatrics?  I yearned, while feeling guilty at the same time, to change my focus to general pediatrics and having a more preventive healthcare focus.  Slowly, as I continued to progress with my skills in painting and mixed media, I also progressed in my thinking about my career.  Over time, I began to see that I could change my career focus----I could do ANYTHING if I put my mind to it.  In February of 2018, I began a new position as a pediatric nurse practitioner in an outpatient pediatric practice.  And, you know what?  I DID IT!  The learning curve was steep, but my initial training in my PNP program slowly come back to me, and I was so fortunate to be surrounded by colleagues that were extremely supportive.  The new position created more space and time (no 1-1 ½ hour commute EACH way!) for me to create art, spend more quality time with my family, and re-engage in a social life that I had sorely been missing.  The transition was HARD!  I cried everyday from the time I announced that I was leaving my former position until the day I left---I was leaving a significant part of my life behind and the grief was REAL!  Creating art helped me through all of it. In October of 2020, I made another big decision! To RETIRE! The Covid-19 pandemic along with the upheaval in our country, the unprecedented fires in Oregon, and many other things brought me to the realization that LIFE IS SHORT! I now am free to create art whenever I want to, to participate in my local art community, re-engage with friends and family, and ENJOY LIFE!

Thanks for reading my story.  I hope it has helped you to see why continuing to launch my art business is so very important and exciting to me!  WELCOME!