Tanya Val Fine Art

08/26/2026

LIVING COLOR WORKSHOPS✨

I’m hosting two in-person natural color workshops at my plant shop, That Feeling Co on Dowling, this September.

It’s been a while since I’ve taught a workshop in this space, and it feels like such a fitting place to bring these practices together. We’ll gather around the tables surrounded by tropical plants, working with locally grown flowers, foraged materials, natural inks + dyes.

CREATING NATURAL INKS WITH LOCAL FLOWERS, DYES + FOOD WASTE
September 19th • 5–7:30pm

We’ll make an ink from start to finish using locally foraged Alaska blueberries, explore pH shifts + modifiers, create our own natural color palettes, and paint with an array of inks made from flowers, food waste, natural dyes + foraged materials.

I’ll be sharing techniques I’ve gathered from almost a decade of working with natural color, including my natural binder recipe, how I preserve my inks, and some of the ways I use them in my paintings.

We’ll finish by painting locally grown seasonal blooms together.

BUNDLE DYEING SILK SCARVES WITH LOCAL FLOWERS, DYES + FOOD WASTE
September 20th • 5–7:30pm

We’ll each create two silk scarves using two different natural dyeing techniques.

We’ll work with seasonal flowers, foraged plants, food waste + natural dyes, learning about fabric preparation, mordants, modifiers, and how different materials leave their color behind.

Then we’ll bundle our scarves, steam them, and open them up together. My favorite part.

You’ll leave with two completely one-of-a-kind silk scarves, almost like little heirlooms of the season. Something you can wear and keep as a reminder of what was growing here at this particular moment in time.

Both workshops are small + hands-on. All materials and light refreshments are included.

Spots are limited. Registration is now open through the link in my bio.

Let’s make some living color magic together 🤍

08/09/2026

6 years ago we eloped in the mountains with our family 🧡

Looking back at these photos feels surreal. We had opened our plant shop That Feeling Co just a month before Covid turned everything upside down, cancelled our wedding, and decided instead to elope, have an intimate dinner with our families, and save the big celebration for another year.

On this moody morning, we got ready together at home among our plants, then split up for the sweetest little first look in our front yard before driving to Summit Lake. We shared our vows by the waterfall, took photos, and had a little ceremony with our families. Grace Adams | Wedding Photographer captured the entire day so artfully, and looking through these photos still feels like stepping right back into it.

I foraged and sourced local flowers for my bouquet (hi, I used to be a florist among so many other things lol), made floral earrings using Tessa’s Tessa Ely earrings, and did all of the arrangements for our dinner. Alaska from Scratch/Maya Wilson cooked us the most delicious meal and drink pairings along with such a special wedding cake.

Life looked so different then. No kids, no dog, way more plants in our house. My studio was buzzing with paintings and raw pigments, and just a month earlier I had hosted my very first art retreat in Girdwood with my art bestie Emily Jeffords : Fine Artist. So many of the things that fill my life now were just beginning.

Now there are two plant shops, an incredible crew, art retreats around the world, two busy little kids, and a much louder and fuller life.

This year also marks 15 years together, but I’m not quite ready to reflect on that amount of time yet lol.

So incredibly thankful for the home, family, community and life we’ve built together, and for my sweetie through all of it.

Basking in the magic of this day till forever. 🧡

08/05/2026

Just sharing a few thoughts that have been on my mind lately.

I don’t think creativity ever really leaves us. I think life just asks it to take different shapes for a while.

I’m excited to see what this season grows into, even if I don’t have it all figured out yet.

If your relationship with creativity has changed over the years, I’d love to hear about it.🧡

07/28/2026

Our new yearly tradition 🥹🧡 I learned so much planning this art party! My goal was to have open ended creative activities - plexi glass painting station, ice sensory painting station, magic wand making with ribbons and jewels, big cotton white sheet for spraying and painting, a big canvas on the ground with lots of brushes and tools to explore! All paints were eco and washable! My dearest Tessa Ely made us paint brushes from sticks, flowers and foraged plants 🥹 safe to say that whimsy was created!

04/27/2026

The Desert Retreat is waiting for you✨
Four days in the Sonoran Desert this November, creating with materials the earth made, painting in light that changes everything, eating meals that make you never want to leave the table, and resting in a way you forgot was possible.
This is not a typical art retreat. You’ll grind rocks into oil paint. Bundle desert flowers into silk and watch chemistry take over. Sit outdoors with a brush in your hand and nothing but saguaros and open sky in front of you. You’ll make things you didn’t know you were capable of, with people who will surprise you, in a place that will stay with you long after you leave.
Everything is included. All ten workshops, every meal, every supply. We’ve done the planning, the preparing,
the dreaming of every detail.
You just show up and create.
Swipe through to see everything that’s waiting for you.
The Desert Retreat · November 9–12 · Tucson, Arizona
Use “DesertBird” for $200 off through April 30th
Link in bio🧡

04/25/2026

You’ve never created like this before✨
Ground a rock into oil paint. Bundle desert flowers into silk and watch the color bleed in ways nobody can predict. Sit in open Sonoran light with a brush in your hand and nothing but saguaros and sky in front of you.
This is what four days at the Desert Retreat feels like.
Ten workshops. Every meal included. A small group of people who arrive as strangers and leave as something closer to family. All of it held inside 38 acres of the most beautiful landscape you’ve ever painted in.
You don’t need experience. You just need to show up.
The Desert Retreat · November 9–12 · Tucson, Arizona
all workshops + meals included
Use “DesertBird” for $200 off · link in bio

04/22/2026

Earth day hits different when nature itself is your life’s work. Foraging for inks and pigments, pleinair painting, teaching workshops and retreats, sharing that love with my babies - makes life so much sweeter. Happy birthday earth, I love you sm!
Sweetest vid by 🩷

04/16/2026

There is a version of you that creates freely. That loses track of time in the best way. That makes something beautiful from almost nothing and feels, for the first time in a long time, completely alive.
This retreat was built for her.
Four days in the Sonoran Desert, painting in open light, making color from rocks and minerals, dyeing silk with desert flowers, creating in ways you never knew were possible. Small group. Every detail handled. Every meal made with love.
You don’t need experience. You just need to show up.
The Desert Retreat · November 9–12 · Tucson, Arizona

Use “DesertBird” for $200 off through March 30th
Full details at the link in bio🧡

04/12/2026

36 🧡 thank you so much for all the birthday wishes!

this past year feels like it aged me 10 years… but in the way that comes with being a mom of two littles, running a beautiful plant shop, and staying rooted in my work as an artist.

yesterday I just wanted to do my favorite things. we stopped by our shop for coffees first, then went to snow city for breakfast. I live for the cream cheese stuffed toast. Estée immediately scooped up all the whipped cream the second we sat down. my girl.

then we went to pick out flowers for me to arrange. I was so excited to see peonies and lilac, like truly made my day. Estée was completely enamored with the shop’s little dog.

I got to arrange flowers in total peace while everyone napped, which honestly feels like the ultimate birthday gift right now.

then we ended the day with a family dinner at my in-laws, marking 10 years of the shrimp boil extravaganza. 🧡

04/08/2026