Roy Tabora was destined to be an artist. Born into a family of painters, young Tabora was brought up in a world where art was a way of life. Under the watchful eye of a loving uncle, his hand was skillfully trained to reproduce what his heart saw. Those early days as a studio apprentice fueled his desire to elevate his art to one day stand among the works of the finest, past and present. By the age of twenty, the years of training and discipline had produced a highly accomplished realist painter. His quest for excellence continued with a formal education in fine art from the University of Hawaii. Today he is recognized as one of the world’s leading seascape painters.

Born on June 18, 1956, Tabora continues the legacy of generations of artists who populate his family tree. Growing up surrounded by art and artists, his earliest memories are of watching the creative process in action. His lessons in the disciplines of drawing and painting began almost as early as he can remember. During his youth, he was directed by his favorite uncle, Rick Gonzalez. As with all apprentices, his days were occupied by sweeping floors, cleaning paint brushes and preparing painting materials, as well as receiving expert training in the traditional techniques of the old masters.

Already an accomplished Realist at the age of twenty, he opted to continue his education, starting at Washington State University, and receiving his degree in fine arts from the University of Hawaii. He was soon discovered by Hawaii’s leading art galleries and has since risen to great renown as one of the finest seascape painters in the world. The splendor of Hawaii’s tropical shores is a constant source of Tabora’s inspiration yet in his creative process, he relies even more on his heart than he does on his eye. “I romanticize,” he says. “The scenes I portray are memories I have imagined…memories of when the footprints of men were not so prolific and deep. Nature alone is the subject of my work. Its allure is exquisitely pure; That’s what I wish to convey. I see Hawaii’s land and sea as the essence of beauty itself. It reaches to me with a richness of emotion that I simply must express.”

Tabora’s work is magical with a remarkable glow that seems to shine from an inner light. His colors are all at once subtle and intense. He achieves this through a long and painstaking process of layering and glazing. Tabora begins with a wash of turpentine and color. Then using oils, he under-paints the image. This is followed with five to ten applications of colors he calls transparent, each to bring out a greater sense of depth or tonal value. Each layer builds luminosity and light within the transparent waves. Highlights and glazes complete his paintings, resulting in works that enter our minds and become our dreams.

Tabora’s art strikes a chord deep within, sending us to a mystical place where our imagination is free to wander amid our fondest memories. Ultimately we arrive at a moment of tranquility. To capture these moments and share them with his viewers–this is the artist’s highest aim and this is the true essence of Roy Tabora’s unforgettable seascapes. His original paintings and limited editions prints are highly prized by collectors for their irresistible qualities of majesty, mood, and meticulous perfection.

Roy Tabora & Walfrido Garcia