The Artist

Tia Gregorak

About the Artist and her Work

Tia’s interest in painting began at Pepperdine University in the United States where she studied under, Avery Falkner, Joseph Piasentin and Robert Privitt.

Working mostly with oil on canvas, the work was large-scale abstract expressionistic pieces that dealt more with colour than form.

As her work began to evolve the compositions within the works began to appear more realistic and take shape and form.

One thing that remained constant, the importance of colour. In the early work, the layers of the painting built up the surface, and the end result was a highly textured painting with strong colours.

In the body of work Rare Orchids the orchids become abstract in appearance because of the layering technique they create a sense of movement and harmony.

With Rare Orchids, Tia explored working with a new medium of gouache and India ink. Exploring the luminous quality of the paint and paper, Tia wove together the foreground and background, sometimes pushing them together, sometimes apart.

Using the idea of layering and colour with Rare Orchids, Tia examines how the overlapping layers can emphasise the detailing of the Orchid.

Tia continuously seeks to identify the visual strengths of flowers to understand why they are so many things, unique, exotic, organic, senses, and universal.
A flower can be feminine, masculine, a representation of love and beauty, a simple truth.

Over time, Tia returned to painting with a new body of work focused on the Rose, but roses in their most imperfect form, at the end of their life but still beautiful.

Tia now creates deeply intimate and evocative paintings of roses—each one inspired by a flower she has personally photographed from life.

Her work is rooted in the quiet poetry of imperfection, exploring the beauty that emerges through age, decay, and the natural passage of time.

Fascinated by the transient and often overlooked stages of a rose’s life, she captures the delicate tension between fragility and strength, loss and resilience.

Rather than depicting flowers at their peak, she turns her gaze toward the bruised, wilted, and fading forms—moments where character is etched into every petal and fold. In doing so, she reframes the narrative around beauty, challenging conventional ideals and honoring the grace found in what many might discard.

Her practice is both meditative and meticulous, beginning with photography and evolving through layers of paint that preserve the emotional essence of each bloom. The result is a body of work that speaks quietly but powerfully about the dignity of aging, the richness of imperfection, and the profound beauty that can arise at the end of a life.

About the Inspiration

Tia Gregorak is a mother of three children and lives and works in Central Switzerland, drawing daily inspiration from the natural world, the changing seasons, and the enduring symbolism of the rose.

Past Exhibitions

Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art – 2002

ROY G. BIV Group Exhibition

Malibu, California

Melange Gallery – 2010

Tia Gregorak – Rare Orchids, Solo Exhibition

Budapest, Hungary