Tara McFarlane
“My first memory was in black and white. I am in a basement that appeared to be built by cinderblocks. I’m with my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. My great grandmother is doing laundry. My mom and I are watching her from a cot that was directly behind her. I was young, probably around 2 years old. I cannot confirm that this actually happened, but I’m pretty sure it was real. My mom and I lived in the upstairs apartment, directly above my great grandma. We were literally on top of one another.” Tara says.
Tara McFarlane is employed at Reed Winery in Sonoma County. She grew up in Bergen County, New Jersey, and comes from an Italian family. Tara was heavily influenced by three remarkable women growing up – her mom, grandmother, and great grandmother. She had the pleasure of knowing her great-grandmother up until she was 22 years old.
Tara went to high school in Montvale, and graduated college in Philadelphia, with a degree in photography. “I hated high school. Anybody who knew me then would confirm that. I don’t know why though; I can’t really say. I had a lot of friends and I definitely fit in, but deep down, I never wanted to. For whatever reason, I wanted to resist. I had to resist what people were telling me…”
After college, she moved to New York City for a couple of years and eventually acquiesced, after putting-up great resistance, to moving to the west coast. This was a pivotal turning point in her life, one that revealed qualities and interests within herself that she otherwise would have never discovered.
“My father was an artist, a self-taught painter. I remember being super-young, watching what he was doing and always being really interested in his work.”
It was not long until her father’s art began to motivate Tara to begin her own journey as an artist.
“Creating art has allowed me to feel independent and confident within that space. No matter what’s going on, I can enter into a headspace and focus on something else without any distractions. It’s almost like a meditative practice and has helped me through a lot in life.”
After a couple of years exploring her voice through fine art and AP classes in high school, Tara knew that this was what she wanted to do long-term.
“I decided to major in photography. In high school, I had the good fortune of working in a darkroom. I LOVED the darkroom. I loved working with film. It felt like a place where I could just escape. Digital never sat well with me. It was too much of an instant gratification. I wanted to work for it, manipulate it, and spend more time with it.”
Tara’s propensity towards independence and resisting what others told her to do, continued. She courageously followed her own voice and vowed to make work that inspired her.
“For my senior thesis, I decided to base it off of NOT using a camera. I made photos from scraps, creating collages, ultimately making something that I called a photo. Again, I tend to resist what people tell me to do. Recently, my photo work has fallen through. I haven’t picked up a camera in several years, but I’ve been painting a lot. This has been super-therapeutic. A lot of my work is abstract. I feel it’s more organic, meditative, and it has given me more freedom to express myself.”
Hospitality was at the forefront of Tara’s childhood. It was ingrained in her blood from a very young age. Her uncle owned a restaurant in New Jersey called Valdosta’s and was also the chef for many years. Her mom worked there as a waitress and her grandmother did the bookkeeping. Each night was an adventure and the memories she has from that time holds a special place in her heart.
“My sister and I grew up in those booths, polishing silverware, folding napkins, running around in cold storage, and getting in the way most nights.” she says with a smile.
“I had great relationships with my mom, grandma, and great grandma. My great grandma instilled a lot of tradition into my entire family. My favorite is probably Sunday dinners. Every Sunday we would go downstairs, and enjoy spaghetti, meatballs, crumb cake, coffee, and tea. My mom still does it to this day. Occasionally, Steven and I will do a spaghetti dinner together, but mostly it’s Macaroni Sunday! I value tradition, and it’s been nice to bring that tradition out west, but it’s also exciting to start new traditions.”
In 2015, Tara took a leap of faith. She moved cross-country and away from her family. This decision did not come easy. She always saw herself as a city girl, but after some serious persuasion, she said yes, and that decision forever changed her life.
“I did not want to move to the west coast. I always saw myself as a suburban kid, a city girl. I loved going to school in Philly and I LOVED living in Brooklyn, NY.
But…I just pulled the trigger. It was like ripping a Band-Aid off. I told myself that if it doesn’t work out, I can always move back.”
After about a year of allowing herself to acclimate to a new environment, a peculiar shift began to arise within her. “I learned that I am not a city person. I’m a country, outdoors-type of girl. I started to explore the outdoors and work outdoors in a way that I have never done before. I love hiking, I love camping, and I love kayaking in the summer. Being able to enjoy these things has made me a much more tolerable person.”
Tara also benefited from landing a great job at a local restaurant 5 days after she moved into her new apartment. “It was the best possible position I could have found myself in. The place was HUGE. They were open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They served food, wine and had a deli, coffee bar, and retail shop. It was beautiful. I was bartending and waitressing during my time there. I met winemakers, farmers, growers, and artists. You name it, I met them there! Within two months, I had a group of awesome friends. It was so perfect.
I stayed there for about 2 years and that is when I met the owners of Reeve Winery. They were looking for someone who could help them launch events and host guests in their tasting room. At the time, they only had one other employee. I came in and helped wherever I could. I’ve been there for just over 3 years now and it’s been amazing.”
