Tamra M. Gentry

INTJ-maker, hyper-creative human, lover of color.

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About Tamra

There’s something about the psychedelic swirls and metallic colors in Fordite that invoke a certain giddiness when I see them. But then that’s to be expected.

I first experienced color’s purely physical effect on me in high school. It happened during what became the first of a series of solo “creative inspiration quests” to the St. Louis Art Museum. It was an annual pre-back-to-school ritual for me to hit the art museum (and the zoo) alone for an INTJ meditation and recharge.

At SLAM, I saw a Kandinsky painting for the first time. Upon standing face to face with it, my heart started racing, my stomach dropped to my feet, I couldn’t breathe, and I felt an overwhelming urge to cry (but I didn’t because, well, INTJ). The color and motion in the painting were so intense that they caused a massive emotional and sensory overload–aka INTJ Code Freaking Red.

After experiencing several color-induced “Kandinsky Creative-Crumbles” repeatedly, over time, I noticed a pattern. Following these all-encompassing recharge sessions I always fell into deep—often overwhelming— periods of hyper-creativity. It became clear that I had to find a way to manage the madness and channel my “crumbles” into my own work.

This need to express myself through color developed into an all-out, ongoing battle between letting loose and indulging vs.

keeping myself constrained and controlled because it’s partof my OCD/control freak nature. I couldn’t extract either from my personality.

This meant that I had to find a way to balance my right-brain creative overflow, as represented by color, with the automatic pushback that was my left-brain penchant for (subtle, complementary) confinement and structure. You can see that here in my Fordite work and many years later in my current jewelry designs.

I have what I’ve felt sometimes is a painfully-simple minimalist design aesthetic. I’d like to embellish more, but my design-brain screams NO–almost as if it knows when enough is enough for any given piece. I’ve stopped fighting it at this point. In fact, I believe it’s a good thing to let colors and materials serve as the center of focus. My customers and clients love this about my work.

Fast-forward to well over a quarter of a century since my first “creative crumble.” As both an artist and artisan, my studio practice provides an environment in which I can continue working to transform my wicked-intense color-driven creative energy into meaningful and satisfying work for me that’s fun to collect and wear for others.