The Sarnia Journal has partnered with local photographer Art Connolly to feature his captivating “Humans of Sarnia” series as he delves into the lives and experiences of everyday people in Sarnia/Lambton.
Taryn Henry speaks about her life the way she paints—layered, intuitive, and deeply connected to place. She describes herself as an artist, a mother, and a spiritual practitioner, but those labels don’t exist in isolation. They blend into one another, shaping not only what she creates, but how she moves through the world. In listening to Taryn reflect on her journey, it becomes clear that her story isn’t about choosing one identity over another. It’s about learning how they coexist, evolve, and inform one another over time.
Taryn was born in Goderich and raised in Point Edward alongside her two sisters, growing up in a lakeside environment that would quietly imprint itself on her creative voice. She attended Bridgeview School before completing her high school education at Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School (SCITS). Like many people raised in this region, Lake Huron wasn’t just scenery—it was a constant presence. The shoreline, the changing skies, the storms rolling in, the calm that follows; all of it became part of her internal landscape long before it appeared in her paintings.
After high school, Taryn’s life took a turn that reflected her strong sense of responsibility and family connection. Rather than heading directly into post-secondary education, she took time to help her family raise her nephews. It wasn’t framed as a sacrifice so much as a natural step. Even then, her decisions were guided less by rigid planning and more by intuition—a theme that would continue to surface throughout her life.
Taryn describes herself as spontaneous, a quality that ultimately shaped her entry into higher education. “I just woke up one day and said, I’m going to college,” she says. Acting on that impulse, she applied to three programs at Fanshawe College: Fine Art, Culinary, and Fashion Design. Each reflected a different expression of creativity, but all shared a common thread—working with her hands, trusting her instincts, and creating something tangible. When the acceptance letter for Fine Art arrived first, the choice felt effortless. “Those were my top three interests,” she explains, “and then I heard from the fine art program first and I was like, alright, that’s where we’re going.”
Art, however, was never a sudden discovery. Taryn had been an artist since childhood, influenced in part by her father, a self-taught artist who never had the opportunity to attend art school himself. Importantly, he never pressured her to follow his path. “He didn’t push me,” she says. “There was none of that.” Instead, both her parents offered something far more powerful—unconditional support. “They were so supportive my whole life,” Taryn reflects, acknowledging how rare and formative that kind of encouragement can be, especially in creative fields where doubt and instability often loom large.
After completing the Fine Arts program at Fanshawe, Taryn and seven classmates made a bold decision to continue their education together, relocating to Halifax, Nova Scotia to pursue their bachelor’s degrees. The move marked a period of immersion—both artistically and personally. “It was awesome,” she says, without hesitation. She lived downtown, above an old jazz bar and a restaurant called The Wooden Monkey, a detail that feels almost cinematic. It was a time filled with experimentation, conversation, and constant exposure to creative energy. Halifax offered a different rhythm than Sarnia, but one that allowed her to expand her perspective while still carrying home with her.
Years later, that chapter came full circle. In November of 2025, Taryn returned to Fanshawe College—not as a student, but as a guest speaker—presenting an artist talk to third-year Fine Art students in the same program she had entered two decades earlier. Walking back into the building triggered a strange sense of dislocation. “It was wild being back,” she says. “I felt like I had time travelled.” Her former studio space was no longer active, now repurposed for storage, yet some things hadn’t changed. “The studio still had the same smell,” she laughs, a sensory detail that instantly transported her back to her student days.
As a member who sits on the board of the Fine Arts Program Taryn was aware that Fanshawe College had cut its three-year Fine Art program and now offers only a first-year foundation program. For someone who understands firsthand the importance of sustained artistic education—not just for skill development, but for confidence, community, and critical thinking—the news was deeply disappointing. “I hope that we can still fight and get something,” she says. “Art is pretty fundamental to society. Right?” The question lingers, touching on broader conversations about the value placed on the arts within education and culture.
After completing her formal education, Taryn faced a question familiar to many artists: how do you sustain a creative practice while navigating the realities of adulthood? “How do I jump into this, be able to keep up a studio practice, but life happens,” she says. For a time, life meant a nine-to-five job managing a retail store. Art took a back seat, not because it had lost meaning, but because survival demanded structure and stability. Then came motherhood.
Today, Taryn is raising three children—two girls and a boy—and she speaks about them with a grounded warmth. “I love hanging out with them,” she says. “They’re chill.” Motherhood didn’t erase her identity as an artist, but it reshaped it, forcing her to reimagine what creative life could look like within the rhythms of family.
This fall marked a pivotal shift. Taryn moved into a space that finally allows her to maintain a dedicated studio—something she had been working toward for years. The impact has been immediate and profound. “I can come and go as I please,” she explains. “I paint every day. It’s my full-time thing.” That freedom has allowed her to work intuitively, responding to inspiration when it arises rather than forcing creativity into narrow windows of time.
That renewed focus carried into the summer, when Taryn completed her largest project to date. Alongside Kennady Rayn of Seventh Rayn, she co-created a large-scale public mural titled 216 at North Front, painted on the side of Roxy Lounge. The project pushed her beyond familiar boundaries. “It was such a cool project,” she says. “I had never painted anything that big before.” Working on that scale changed how she thinks about space, visibility, and public engagement. She hopes it’s the first of many public art projects still to come.
According to her website, Taryn’s work is deeply inspired by her home along Lake Huron’s shoreline. Her paintings often draw from visions, experiences as a psychic medium, and a deep sense of nostalgia tied to place. “I love to paint the beauty of a storm,” she explains. “The clouds remind me of all the challenges we face each day—our individuality and the power of surrendering and persevering.” Though her work is often categorized as landscape, she views that label as only a surface description.
“Painting is like a language to me,” she says. “It’s sometimes really difficult to explain a painting or write about it. Yes, it’s a landscape, or the sky, or a beach—but it’s so much more than that.”
That sense of depth extends naturally into her spiritual practice. Taryn has been reading Tarot cards for years, an interest that began in childhood. “My mom and my grandma used to get readings when I was a kid,” she recalls. “I would stay up late and watch.” Initially, she was drawn to the imagery on the cards as an artist, but over time the symbolism and energy work became deeply integrated into her life. In high school, she became fascinated with dreaming, astral projection, and lucid dreaming. “I’ve been into it forever,” she says. “It’s sort of a lifestyle.”
Her spiritual work often intersects with healing, particularly when supporting people through difficult experiences such as grief. At one point, she began creating aura paintings—visual interpretations of energy. “Everyone has an aura,” she says matter-of-factly. When asked if she has always been able to see them, she pauses before answering. “I guess so,” she says. “I had never put it into words what it was.”
In Taryn Henry’s life, art is not merely something she produces. It is how she processes memory, place, emotion, and energy. From running barefoot toward Canatara Beach as a child, to living above a jazz bar in Halifax, to standing in front of a towering mural in downtown Sarnia, her journey reflects a creative practice rooted in intuition, resilience, and an unwavering connection to home. Through paint, spirit, and lived experience, Taryn continues to translate the unseen into something others can feel—and perhaps recognize within themselves.
Visit Taryn’s website at teartist.ca and her Instagram is Taryn.Artist.
Humans of Sarnia founder Art Connolly is a man fuelled by curiosity and a passion for connecting with people in Sarnia. Inspired by the renowned “Humans of New York” series, with a camera in hand, he captures the very essence of the individuals he encounters, preserving their stories through his lens. Follow his series on Instagram and Facebook.
