Tanya Reedy and Tonya Moore have a lot in common.
Both have brown eyes and a good sense of humor.
They’re the same age.
Both enjoy entertaining the crowds through karaoke.
They are moms – Tanya to Savanna, 18; Tonya to 9-year-old Jaycee, 9 Ashton, 21, and Andrew, 22.
And both are self-taught artists with a penchant for painting.
Tanya Faye and Tonya Kaye celebrated the same birthday in October when both turned 40. They are identical twins, though Tanya claims Tonya is a bit taller.
Their similarities end at the canvas, however.
“We are like night and day when it comes to painting,” Tonya said.
Her sister nods in agreement.
“Tonya’s the Bob Ross of the two of us,” said Tanya. “She can’t paint like me, and I can’t paint like her.”
Tanya covers her canvases with bright, bold colors and abstract shapes, while Tonya’s paintings are meticulously detailed and more figurative.
“Tonya likes to paint critters,” Tanya said.
A couple of large painted canvases in the trunk of Tonya’s car feature a sea turtle and a tiger.
“She’s right,” Tonya said. “Critters. That’s mostly all I do.”
It wasn’t always that way. When she was in fifth grade, Tanya was known to draw horses for people. And Tonya, who admits she’s her own harshest critic, continues to fret over the finished tiger that most would view as perfect.
“It was supposed to be a tiger,” she said. “But I started backwards or something, and it suddenly looked like the lion from ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ I guess I finally got it to look like I wanted it too.”
The sisters loved drawing as kids, their artistic abilities seemingly sprouting out of nowhere. Besides their brother — who’s also incredibly creative, albeit in a different medium — none of Tonya and Tanya’s family members are artists.
“He works with metal, in welding,” Tanya said. “There’s sort of an art to that. And our sister is a tech wiz. But Tonya and I are the only painters.”
The sisters now paint exclusively with acrylics that dry quickly and can be layered and textured. However, Tanya plans to give watercolor a whirl, and Tonya wants to try oil.
Tanya believes in being thrifty and upcycling. It’s the process of transforming discarded or used materials, like used canvases, into new products of higher quality and/or value.
“I can take a used canvas and blank it out, then start over with something new,” she said. “I’m a thrifty artist.”
In October, the sisters set up a booth at the popular Robins Street Art Stroll in Tupeo. It was Tanya’s third time to take part as an artist; Tonya sat with her sister in years past, but did not sell her own paintings until October.
“At one point, when she was sitting with me, I told her, ‘You should set up your work and do this with me,’” Tanya said.
“Sitting with Tanya helped me know what to expect,” Tonya said. “The best part was people coming up, looking at my pieces and telling me what they really like. The positive feedback certainly gave me a whole different perspective.”
Tanya understands her sister’s buoyed confidence following her first art festival.
“After showing art multiple times in several different places, there are people who start to look for you,” she said. “Hearing they like your work makes you want to come back.”
Tanya, of Guntown, has worked as a beautician and now at an eye clinic in Saltillo. Tonya lives in Nettleton and works at Blue Delta Jeans. The two paint together sometimes and encourage each other.
“What makes me crazy about her is that it would have taken me 900 years to do that turtle,” Tanya said. “But speedy fingers over here can whip something so detailed out so quick.”
The two plan to participate in more art festivals together, and they will continue to paint animals or abstracts at their individual paces.
“Being an artist to me means freedom of expression,” Tanya said. “It’s an outlet for me. I get to take paint and a blank canvas and pour myself into each piece. I have the opportunity to paint my thoughts/feelings on a canvas and hope it might resonate with others.
“If people can connect with my work, I know I’ve accomplished my goals as an artist. Art is a love language for me — a conversation piece, but also a way to connect with the world.”
Sister Tonya feels similarly about being an artist.
“Self-expression, the inner works of your wildest imagination, the creativity that comes to life and the joy it brings to the eye of the beholder,” she said. “That’s what I love about being an artist.”
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