Boss of herself

When she was little, Tamara Holland ran up to her mom and announced, “I don’t have a bean up my nose!” Of course, she did. Today, as an attorney and artist with grown-up kids of her own, that same spirit of enthusiasm, curiosity, and pluck moves Tamara to create Bean Up The Nose Art goodies.

Her mixed media collages are reprinted in small batches at a local, family-owned print shop near the studio in Marin County. Every piece carries a spark of that original, irrepressible energy.

Tamara is also the author of the Kindle e-book Starting to Make Your Art Your Business: 100 DIY Tips, and her designs have been licensed by Thirstystone for coasters and housewares. She is a proud member of The Letter Writers’ Alliance.

The heart of Bean Up The Nose Art beats with a conviction that the world could use more enthusiasm and a lot more color. Every mixed media collage begins as a layered conversation among found papers, painted textures, and unexpected fragments. The result is something whimsical yet deliberate, a small rebellion against taking things too seriously. These are pieces that invite you to lean in, discover a hidden detail, and remember what it felt like to make something just because it brought you joy. In a time when so much feels heavy, a little pluck goes a long way.

Tamara Holland arrived at her creative life by a route that makes a certain kind of perfect sense. She was the kid who announced to her mom that she did not have a bean up her nose, even though she absolutely did. That blend of earnestness and mischief never really went away. Years spent as an attorney sharpened her thinking, but the pull toward color and whimsy kept tugging. Now, with grown kids and a studio in Marin County, she has built a solopreneur world where curiosity leads and the rules get rewritten daily.

The studio practice is rooted in a deep appreciation for the tactile. Tamara works with paper, paint, and glue in a process that favors happy accidents over rigid planning. A torn edge, a surprising color clash, a vintage book page peeking through a wash of magenta — these are the moments that make a collage sing. The work celebrates imperfection and spontaneity, qualities that can feel rare in a polished digital age. Each original piece carries the evidence of the artist's hands, a quality that remains palpable even in the small-batch reproductions.

Reproduction happens close to home, at a family-owned print shop near the Marin County studio. Keeping production local is not just a matter of convenience; it reflects a commitment to community and craftsmanship. The prints are produced in limited runs, preserving the intimate feel of the originals while making them accessible to a wider circle of art lovers and kindred spirits. There is something quietly radical about choosing the slower, more personal path when the world pushes for scale and speed. These goodies feel like they come from somewhere real.

Beyond the collages themselves, Bean Up The Nose Art extends into a whole ecosystem of creative goodies. Greeting cards carry snippets of collage imagery and wordplay, turning everyday correspondence into something worth opening twice. Luggage tags and buttons transform functional objects into tiny canvases of whimsy. Each item shares the same DNA — a belief that art belongs in the ordinary moments, not just on gallery walls. The goal is never preciousness; it is connection, delight, and a wink shared between the maker and the person who gets it.

The blog and dispatches offer a window into the thinking behind the work. Tamara writes about bravery and the creative process with the candor of someone who has wrestled with doubt and kept going anyway. She shares prompts that nudge fellow artists and friends toward their own acts of making, and she celebrates the small victories that add up to a creative life. These musings on nature, time, and the spirit of play read like letters from a girlfriend who refuses to let you give up on the thing that lights you up. The encouragement is pushy in the best possible way.

At its core, Bean Up The Nose Art is an invitation. It asks you to remember the version of yourself who made things without worrying whether they were good enough. It champions the idea that creativity is not reserved for the formally trained or the full-time artist. Whether you hang a print in your home, tuck a card into a friend's mailbox, or simply spend a few minutes reading the blog with your morning coffee, you are participating in a small but meaningful act of choosing enthusiasm over cynicism. That is the whole point.