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.

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.
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