By Stacie Gottsegen
photos by Bernardo Arce

As a resident of Los Cabos for almost 30 years, Talamante has seen first-hand how dirt roads became two-lane highways and how property values soared.  Despite the tourist boom that includes celebrity weddings and new developments, she still finds a respite here. 

Because of Talamante’s day-to-day interactions with people who visit México for the first time and fall in love with it, she could be considered an ambassador of sorts. “We give our best, we treat our visitors with respect, and we welcome them knowing that they will tell friends about México and their experiences.”

As one of the premiere artists in the BAJA region, she continues to create and explore her visions. When we interviwed her, she had just exhibited at the One&Only Palmilla and it was all about underwater scenes and sensations.  She based the exhibit on a painting she did in 1998 called “mi mundo submarine.” It wasn’t until 2015 that she continued with the rest of the paintings.  She iwas honored and humbled to be the first artist in residence to show at the One&Only Palmilla.

What inspired her?

It all began when she joined an open water swimming group.  She explained to BajaTraveler® what an amazing experience it was for her to let go and address her long fear of the ocean.  When she was swimming, she did not see what was in front or around her …she was just able to move forward, trusting her stroke and knowing that she would get to the shore. All her life she had been scared of swimming in the ocean. In her teens she competed in swimming contests, but only in swimming pools.

As she swam, all her feelings and memories started to appear and come back to her…enveloping her like the ocean.  When she finished, she had her sketchbook and wrote or drew what she experienced daily.

Most of the inspiration comes from her swims in the magical water of the Baja peninsula.

With a mother who was an interior designer and a father who was an engineer, Tanya Talamante’s path could have followed in either of those footsteps. But when her mother hired one of her illustrators to teach a 9-year old Talamante art and painting, the magic of it filled her spirit.

“That’s when my love story with art began,” says Talamante. That love story inspired Talamante to follow her passion. At the time, she owned the Tanya Talamante Art School and Gallery in the beautiful Villa Valentina in San José del Cabo and another studio at the One&Only Palmilla resort.

She has also embraced the art of furniture making as another way of expressing herself.Working with her family as she began her career taught her about materials and the manufacturing process.  In 2006 she opened a concept store called “Palia” in downtown Scottsdale, AZ.

For Tanya, it was a treat designing furniture and sourcing suppliers. The store sold curated items from México circa 1970’s so she was able to work with a lot of design firms in México and the U.S. that produced her designs. The Four Season’s did a big remodel that year and Palia was one of the suppliers of furniture for the venue.

She devours her culture – from food to museums and everything in between.