ABOUT
I am an aspiring actress, singer, illustrator, cosplayer, and mermaid performer. I have done some voice acting work for a friend's animation on youtube. I also had some minor roles in plays back in high school. In college, I took several acting classes such as Acting 1 and 2, Improvisation, and Film Acting. I am in the process of producing and directing skits, short film, and series for my youtube channel called GlassShoesProduction.
I learned how to sew when I took Intro to Costuming at my college. I got hired as a student assistant for a year and really began to expand my costuming portfolio. I created costumes for plays such as Les Miserables, Our Town, Betty's Summer Vacation, and various projects for cosplay. I ran a cosplay club called A-Z Costuming at my college while also working as a student assistant. I've been sewing about 6 years and counting now.
I drew alot for as long as I can remember. I plan on posting my artwork here sometime in the future! I plan on selling prints and printing my artwork on T-Shirts, bags, etc! My favorite medium to use is pencil and paper, watercolor, and Inkscape/Gimp (a graphic design program).
Cosplay and mermaid performance goes hand in hand for me. I make most of my costumes with a commercial pattern and sewing machine. I'm trying to improve on wig styling so I can potentially take wig commissions! The idea of mermaid performance came to mind before I started cosplay. I've been obsessed with mermaids ever since I watched The Little Mermaid.
I ran a mermaid performance group called Mermaid Tails and Fairytales. That group was founded 3 years ago and we performed at many events such as birthday parties and charities. At the moment we are on hiatus because everyone's lives went in different directions, but in the future we hope to revive that group! We are in the process of getting realistic silicone mermaid tails to perform with at future events!
What really inspired me to start my career as a mermaid performer was this little girl I met around 2013. I was doing a Little Mermaid cosplay shoot at a park when this little girl spotted me. Her parents of course wanted me to take pictures with their daughter. After taking photos with their daughter, what the mom said to me changed my life. This is what she said:
"She prayed to Jesus to meet Ariel."
It was the most wholesome thing I ever heard. What are the chances that the little girl will run into Ariel in her neighborhood? I knew that Ariel is a cartoon character and I'm just a girl dressed up like her. Even though I wasn't actually a 2D character, I'm glad I made her wish come true.
"Who am I?" some people would ask. I am Tanya...the artist and mermaid performer who seeks to inspire, educate, and bring magic to people.
Hope you all have a blessed and fintastic day! I hope to post more blogs in the future.
-Sea Siren Tanya