Tanya Val Fine Art

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

04/08/2026

Our first Hawaii trip as a family of four 🌺
So many tender moments and new experiences that my heart is still savoring. Warm sand under our feet, fingers running through the ocean, first popsicle, the smell of hibiscus, watching geckos linger on the palm trees, collecting seashells in your pockets because that’s what mama is doing.

It was the sweetest thing watching a toddler experience all of my favorite parts of Hawaii and love them just as much. That feeling will stay with me for a long time.

Little guy Enzo was mostly just chillin and eating. His first true Hawaiian experience is still to come.

04/02/2026

As a natural ink maker, I’ve been wanting to explore egg dyeing like this for years. Using real materials. Letting color come from food, plants, and time.

My toddler was right there with me, helping place herbs and wrap the eggs. It felt really good not having to worry about artificial dyes on little hands. Just simple, safe ingredients from the kitchen.

These turned out so beautiful it’s honestly going to be hard to eat them.

Here’s the process I used:

• Make your dye baths
– Onion peels, red cabbage, and beets: low simmer for ~1 hour
– Add a splash of vinegar + a pinch of salt for vibrancy
– Chamomile, turmeric, and teas: cover with hot water and steep

• Create your designs
– Place herbs, microgreens, or berries against the egg
– Wrap tightly with a sheer stocking to hold everything in place

• Dye
– Submerge and let sit overnight for deeper color

• Finish
– Gently dry and rub with a little oil to bring out the richness and shine

This is very similar to how I approach natural ink making. Same materials, same curiosity. I hope it makes the process feel less intimidating and more like something you can play with.

So many directions you can take this. So many small experiments.

Let me know your favorite!

02/16/2026

It’s been seven years since I left my acrylic paints, and I’ve never looked back.

These days my palette is built entirely from the earth. Strictly natural inks and pigments. Botanical inks, foraged pigments, plant based color, all house made in my studio.

And somehow, the further I move from acrylic, the more inspired I feel.

The tones are softer but deeper. Moodier. More alive. They carry the story of where they came from. Rusted shores, tidal pools, wind dried botanicals. Every brushstroke feels like a collaboration with the landscape rather than an attempt to capture it.

Painting beside the ocean feels especially romantic. Salt air moving through the page. Water beside water. Pigment meeting tide.

Seven years in, and this slower, earth built palette still feels like the most honest color story I’ve ever known✨

02/14/2026

Hands down the best year yet🧡