IN THE STUDIO WITH ARTIST TAYLOR LEE

North Carolina artist Taylor Lee is on a mission to explore all assets of colour, as can be seen in her vibrant, richly-hued abstract paintings that sometimes evoke slow and dreamy vibes, and sometimes stoke a primal energy within. Besides offering up her eye-popping paintings in the shop on her site, she also keeps up a kick-ass blog with inspiring stories about her travels and life and what it means to be an artist. We had a chat with her to find out what sparks her passion and how she runs her creative business.

 

IN THE STUDIO WITH ARTIST TAYLOR LEE

 

Hi Taylor, so nice to be chatting with you! So let’s start at the beginning. At what point did you realise that creativity was your calling?

 
I think I’ve known since I was a small child. In 3rd grade, I won a ribbon for a piece that I did in art class. I don’t remember entering a competition – I think that the art teacher just submitted things to the county on our behalf. But I remember going out to this small gallery in my hometown and seeing my piece on the wall with a first place ribbon. It was thrilling! I still remember the piece vividly and was delighted to find it well-preserved amongst my grandmother’s things recently. It was an underwater scene, with a puffer fish, a shark, a zebrafish, and lots of glittery seaweed, of course.

 

How has your childhood and your younger years shaped who you are as an artist today?

 
I remember learning to paint by watching my grandmother paint tiny flowers on a birdhouse that she made from scratch. North Carolina summers are hot and humid, but Grandma Katie always wanted to spend the long afternoons on the front porch, sweat beading at her hairline as she delicately applied pink and purple paint to her latest project while her scraggly cat weaved between her ankles. She was always creating, and it quickly became one of my favorite hobbies, too. My grandma always told me that painting was “in my blood,” so I didn’t experience a lot of self-doubt or shyness around creativity until I was older. I’ve fought off the infamous “imposter syndrome” by remembering my grandma’s certainty in my talent.

Also, I see a water theme recurring in a lot of my artwork. I believe that this is because of the trips to the Outer Banks we took to visit family when I was younger. We didn’t have the money to go on many vacations, but we were able to drive about an hour to the beach to see family. My imagination worked on conceiving other landscapes, but I was really influenced by seeing the Atlantic Ocean so much.

 

If you could describe your work in just a few words, what would those be?

 
I think about this question constantly! I used to describe my art as vibrant and happy, but my work has undergone some dramatic changes in the last year. I think that it’s more moody, has a lot more depth, and is a lot more blue as of late.

 

 

In your artist statement you say that you aim to create a body of work that allows colour to speak through you. Can you elaborate on that for us?

 
I have never learned how to make my own colors from pigments or natural materials. Like a lot of people, I’ve simply interpreted color as a product, from “Tickle Me Pink” Crayola crayons to “Medium Magenta” by Golden Brand paints. But color is not something that we can tame and wrap up in a tray of watercolor cakes.

Color is alive, breathing, and moving. I have started paying attention to the colors in nature, like that bright blue in the water of the San Francisco Bay, or that smoky yellow tint on leaves that signals autumn’s arrival. When you start looking at these naturally-occurring colors, all of a sudden those tubes at Blick seem so flat and uninspired.

I know that it’s ambitious, but I am working to capture as much of that mystery and magical appearance of true colors. I don’t want to just buy a tube from the store and pretend to understand that color. Color, on its own, is stunning. I am hoping to honor it in my work.

 

 

Setting off on the career path as an artist is not always easy. What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a creative entrepreneur?

 
Getting comfortable with uncertainty. Especially as an artist, I have busy periods and then slow periods. Since March I’ve barely had time to sleep, with exhibitions, artist residencies, sales, and blogs/interviews. But September was SO SLOW. I didn’t know how to deal with it. It felt creepy, like too quiet! But I’m learning that I can’t control external forces. I can only control what I’m doing. And I’m learning that taking a break is ok. Since March I’ve worked 60+ hours a week and taken no vacation. It’s scary to “take time off” though if you’re the only one working! I don’t have a replacement, so even when I try to promise myself a chill day I end up working.

Another challenge as a creative entrepreneur is the pressure to always be creating. There are periods of time when an outpouring of new work comes easily, and then other times when it’s very difficult to conceive a single sketch. When you take something like art and infuse it with business, you start trying to create on a schedule, and that just doesn’t work. I do believe that creativity is a habit and practising it every day is the best way to strengthen it, but not every moment is going to gold. It ebbs and flows.

 

What is a typical working day like for you?

 
I love coffee. It’s the first thing I want when I wake up – that and bacon. As I eat I will contemplate the previous day’s work. This is usually when I stare at works in progress and sort of ask the painting what it wants. If I hear an answer, I will get right to painting, but if not I will most likely handle emails and other tech stuff. Since I maintain my own website and social media, I have to block out time to focus on one or the other. Website, copywriting, and social media feels like a completely different part of my brain, so I can’t really do it while I’m painting. I will typically wake up early and stay up late. I don’t enjoy sleeping – as soon as I wake up my mind springs to life and reels with everything I could be doing. My husband also works from home and we have an adorable puppy, so at some point I will take a break to cuddle my dog and run ideas past my husband. He’s my sounding board for so many things. My typical day also includes a lot of mineral water and research. I research things like SEO, the latest business book, copywriting (always), and photography to help keep the other parts of my business running as smoothly as they can.

 

 

Besides the actual creation process, what other tasks are crucial for running your business?

 
Staying educated! I read business books, go to conferences, watch webinars and videos – honestly I’m constantly trying to grow. Also, the Passion Planner. I fill this planner up with short and long-term goals to help me stay focused. Another task that is essential is searching for opportunities to exhibit, license, or sell. I’ve found that I really have to put on a salesman hat way more often than I ever thought I would need to as an artist.

 

If you had the option to hire an expert to help you with your business, what aspects of your business would you get them to help you with and why?

 
I would actually really enjoy hiring someone to teach me all that I need to know about design. I find making graphics and editing my website SO enjoyable! But unfortunately, I only have very basic skills and rely on user-friendly apps to help me. I want someone to teach me how to do these things (instead of me just hiring them to do it) because I change my mind a lot about color palettes or wording. Maybe that’s because I haven’t truly nailed my branding yet. But when I update my blog or have a new collection coming out, I’d like to be able to whip up a pinnable graphic that is eye-catching.

 

If you could go back to the time when you were just starting out in your creative career and give yourself some advice, what would it be?

 
I immediately thought about the quote at the end of Ferris Bueller when he cautions against forgetting to stop and look around at life every now and then. I am goal-oriented, which is sometimes a great way to get things done. However, that means that I sometimes and so laser-focused on the outcome that I forget to enjoy the process. Life never has this moment when “we’ve made it” and we live the rest of our days in bliss. The journey is the every day that we are currently living. I wish I had paused to look around and appreciate the journey a bit more when I was starting out.

 

We love learning more about inspiring artists like yourself! Can you tell us about one other female artist in your community who you think is rocking their business and why?

 
Always. Versannette Blackman-Bosia is the founder/owner of Soul Revival Healing Arts. She teaches art classes and workshops and sells her original paintings. She and I have followed along with each other’s journey online for a while, but we finally connected in person at an exhibition in Chicago for a Nasty Women Art Auction. Verse is a wonderful person who is supportive, inspiring, and so much fun to be around. I admire that she is so giving and so engaged in her community. What an incredible woman.
 

Check out more of Taylor Lee’s work and please show your support!

 
www.taylorleepaints.com
www.instagram.com/taylorleepaints
www.facebook.com/taylorleepaints