Tej was born in California in 1970. Her fine art training includes three years at the San Francisco Art Institute where she studied with artists Carlos Villa, Jeremy Morgan and Bruce McGaw.

“My latest group of abstract paintings began at the end of 2002 with the birth of my niece. During the tense period leading up to her birth, we experienced a rage of electrical storms. The energy was a massive blend of wind and water. I felt connected to a mysterious feminine force that manifested itself into this body of work.

Since that transitional point, I continue to take an intuitive approach to my work, often remembering my dreams as I paint. I am inspired by the elements of nature and the shifts of time and space. I continue to work in an abstract manner, as these themes are inherently abstract.

I paint with oils and an alkyd medium. I use a variety of layering techniques, often splash solvent over a wet coat, revealing what lies beneath, adding to the surface and form of the piece.”

Riding the Veil with Tej

Layers of texture and exploration unfold onto artist Tej’s canvases where colors upon colors coalesce and separate like the ebb and flow of waves from the ocean. They invite us to partake in Riding the Veil, Greenhill’s latest exciting and provocative series of original oils now on view at Soco Gallery in Half Moon Bay. Greenhill’s gestural brushstrokes creates revealing juxtapositions of color fields that caress the canvas and draw us into the recesses of our dreams and memory. Her sensitive and yet bold execution offers us the possibility of discovery and transformation. This Bay Area native received her formal training from the San Francisco Art Institute where stellar Abstract Expressionists such as Richard Diebenkorn and others left their mark. Tej explained that this series was inspired in part by the diffusive and evocative remnant of tea stains left on countertops. This source of inspiration serves Greenhill in exploring the ethereal,transitory nature of color and our dreams that can yet leave a permanent stain or imprint on one’s soul.

– Lisa Vestal

To view featured works by Tej, click on the thumbnail images above.