Tabitha Orr

Hello!  I am Tabitha Orr. Creating is like breathing for me.  My childhood was filled with art. Paintings by my Grandfather and Mother hung all over the house. Today my kids continue the legacy with their own forms of artwork. I dabbled in so many forms of arts and crafts over the years. Most recently I spent time making costumes for cosplayers. I was an International award winning Costume and Production Designer in the film and media industry. During COVID, productions shut down. Upkeep for my business was unsustainable as the months continued. After working in film I realized I needed to tell my own stories. Putting your own art into the world for everyone to see is terrifying but so rewarding. Now my sketchbooks are filled with a billion story ideas. All of my art is drawn by hand in pencil then painted using vibrant watercolors, calligraphy ink and acrylics.
 

I am a California native. My family moved to Florida when I was a baby growing up with my feet in the sandy beaches of Tampa Bay and Tarpon Springs. During high school I was able to intern with a veterinarian traveling with him to Busch Gardens and what was then known as Lowry Park Zoo, as he cared for the health of the animals. 

 

While I was attending the University of South Florida on my degrees in Anthropology and Paleontology I worked at the Busch Gardens in the Animal Education Department and later at the Museum of Science and Industry educating the public of all ages on everything from fossils, elephants, crocodiles, space and even reading folk tales to children. 

 

My childhood home was filled with books. I spent more time with my head in a book than I did doing math. My favorite smell was the library and oh joy that crinkle noise the books made when you opened them.  I always gravitated to stories like fairy and folk tales, told over the years time then remembered through generations like the ones I read as a child or were read to me at bedtimes. The very first story I wrote was an original folk tale about the origins of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor and the power of oral storytelling. 

 

Currently I live with my husband, we have two adult children, ten cats and one box turtle. None of which have ever seen grass or trees. Our house sits near five dormant volcanoes on the sandy desert mesa of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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Roadrunners, tumbleweeds and dust devils appear as often as ideas in my head.

 

May creativity always fill your soul.