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 18, 2009

An Expounded Conciousness Oil on Canvas 54 x 54 inches

This is a deconstructed self portrait involving multiple canvases that are permanently attached to each other in such a way as to show depth of layers as well as blocks of color and image. From the brain or psyche in the background, through the sensory organs and all the way to the raw blocks of color used to form the works of art. This piece was the center of my installation at Sideshow IIII and will be my entry in the Preble County Art Association's upcoming self portrait show titled "The Me, Myself, and I Portrait Challenge" A prospectus can be found here.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Tallahassee 25

Standing Midstream by Dan W. Taylor
5 x7 inch acrylic on canvas


Standing midstream by Dan W. Taylor
Preliminary sketch



This painting was created as a donation for a benefit organized by Tallahassee 25, which is a fully volunteer driven non-profit organization that works with at-risk youth in the Tallahassee, Florida area. The donated works are used to create a Mystery Masterpiece Wall of 5 x 7 inch creations that will be exhibited at the Mary Brogan Museum of Art & Science on March 14. The pieces will be sold for a flat fee with all proceeds going towards their kid's events.

With this small painting, I wanted to reference classic landscape composition but in a non classic way. Through simplification of form and color I want to bring a more child-like quality to the work. That is not to say that it is not a serious work, as great care has been taken to adhere to rules of composition and scale but I wanted this piece to be fun, also. One of the ways that this is achieved is through the base color. I used a bright purple metallic base coat which was allowed to peak through as outlines of the various landscape elements. This creates a changing effect as the light reflects off of the metallic when viewed from differing angles.

This was a fun project to work on and I'll be sure to post the call for entry for future shows for anyone that may want to participate.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Waiting for Spring

Waiting for Spring - Germantown Ohio

I continue to add new works to my sale site, http://taylorstudio.ecrater.com such as this piece.
This is part of a series of photographs of local benches in the winter snow. One happened to catch my eye as I was taking a winter walk and I was taken by the loneliness that it conveyed. This series brings not only that sense of desolation but also a bit of comfort supplied by their permanence and knowing that they will be there waiting at the first warm day of spring.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Shop for art!

Ok, so folks have been asking, "How can I buy some of the wonderful artwork displayed here when I live a long ways off or can't make it to the local shows?". Well here's how! I recently opened an internet gallery and shop to do just that! You can browse the various categories, make your choices and even pay online using Paypal or all major credit cards. You can find the link to this magical store on the top of the column just to the left of this post! How exciting! Be sure to tell all of your friends as original art makes an excellent gift to give AND receive. Plus, historically, artwork has performed better than the stock market as an investment! So in this time of economic uncertainty, can you afford to NOT by artwork? I didn't think so.