Art of Dan W. Taylor: Like Soldiers in the Sun

Artist Statement

I’m not a painter…

In spite of the fact that you are viewing many of my works, which are primarily created using oil paints, I don’t consider myself a painter. I think of myself as a communicator, like a speechwriter, newspaper reporter, orator, or even in some aspects, a politician. I compose my ideas and try to present them in a manner that others can experience the way I feel while creating the composition. But where a speechwriter or reporter uses words to ply their trade, I am an artist, therefore I use the language of imagery to state my feelings and opinions. This imagery may vary from photography, to painting with realism, to figurative abstract, or even involve elements of found-object collage and assemblage. It may also vary from simple emotions like joy and contentment to more complex feelings such as fear, love and sadness. It is the process of communicating my ideas that is important more than the media used. In fact, it is the creative process of the communication that is important to me. While I am working on a piece, I am emotionally tied to it to the point of distraction. It becomes the sole focus of what I am doing. However, when I bring a piece to completion, the emotional attachment dissolves. I don’t feel the post partum effect that some artists talk about as much as I feel as though I’ve committed a captured moment of my essence and released it to the ether. The way a spoken word floats ever outward into space.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Like Soldiers in the Sun

Like Soldiers in the Sun
Pastel on Museum Board
15 x 20 inches

This piece is based on a photograph I took in the Oregon District of Dayton Ohio on a sunny late afternoon. I was drawn by the way the boxes were in such a perfect line and standing motionless in the bright light. the legs seemed to give them a living quality which made it feel as though they should be walking to the shadier side of the building for some relief from the heat. The photograph reminded me of the work of Edward Hopper, so I wanted to replicate some of the aspects of his paintings in my drawing. I feel that this is accomplished by the flatness of the color planes and the stark sense of lights and darks.