Artist Tana Lopez has always chosen "adventure over a white picket fence". Her journey that would lead her to a "meditation of paint, words and camera...with love and light, with gratitude" began in Heidelberg, former West Germany. Growing up on a military base, Lopez has fond memories of her village that was "right smack in the middle of a collection of farmer fields." Lopez and her brother would enjoy life's simple pleasures. They would often wander beyond the military base on their bikes until arriving "at our favorite cherry tree and ate to our hearts' delight."

It was in this same village where Lopez met her "best friend Ely while serving in the military." They married in 1994 and traveled the world for the next 15 years.At some point along the journey I found myself overcome with a desire to take better photos of my children and my family and the need to do so cheaply. My photography skills began to blossom with a photography book that I checked out of the Fort Belvoir library, and quickly grew to an insatiable passion that I never escaped."

Lopez's work has been "exhibited at the National Jazz and Cultural Center in Baltimore, Maryland, published on more musician website's than I can count, and can be found on the JazzTimes website. I have photographed some of the biggest names in the industry as well as many incredibly talented local artists and have enjoyed {almost} every moment of it. My Live Jazz photos can be viewed here. My favorite work was the work I did in Ghana, West Africa and you can view that collection here. One of my photos from Ghana was even selected by the Director of Jazz Studies at Princeton University to grace the cover of his CD."

In 2014, Lopez decided to "start putting my camera down more often to put paint to brush to canvas and paper and whatever I can find." We are excited to have Lope as a featured artist on ArtCrasher. To learn more about Lopez and her artwork, you can check out her website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.