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Bio

Sarah Taylor is a contemporary wildlife artist based on the western coast of the English Lake District. Her distinctive graphic style plays with the juxtaposition of geometric pattern and fluid marks, to create an engaging and lively painting that still retains a sense of realism.  

Sarah has a degree in photography from Nottingham Trent University and is clearly heavily influenced by her earlier career as a graphic designer and illustrator. Sarah exhibits in galleries around Cumbria and southern Scotland, and has work in private collections in Europe, Australasia and the United States. 

Sarah:

I have tried over the years, to talk about my work for the benefit of fine art galleries and high-end art prizes and always ended up sounding pretentious and false. I hated talking about my paintings in that context because I knew they didn't really fit into their expectations. Although I love nothing more than a visit to a contemporary gallery; soaking up some amazing ideas, I have always known that my paintings are not deep and meaningful. You would have to search long and hard to find the concerns behind my images and issues that are dealt with between the first splash of ink and the trails of geometric pattern.

I think it is pretty clear to the viewer that I love painting animals, and you would not have to employ Sherlock nor indeed Hercules P to establish beyond reasonable doubt that I am mostly inspired by visual treats.

I LOVE intense colours
I LOVE making patterns
I LOVE blowing ink
I LOVE making splashes
I LOVE bold colour combinations
I LOVE animals

I LOVE finding the personality behind the eyes of these creatures, but I also like to laugh at myself for thinking I can understand what they are thinking or for the stories I imagine they would tell me. It is not inconceivable that they are all thinking something other than where the next meal is coming from, but they may not have the human traits I like to give them in my mind.

What I also know is I LOVE painting animals for people who love animals. I am blown away by how people connect to my paintings. Because of this I am quite at ease that there is no deep meaning behind my work. Bold, contemporary paintings for unapologetic animal lovers. I am more than happy with that!

Please sir, could i have some more?
This doesn't happen very often, but I challenged myself to give you a little more and to delve deeper in the hope that it gains you some insight into Sarah Taylor the Artist and what makes me tick.

What is it with the intense colours then? - You know what, I have tried a few times to use a more muted palette. I really do enjoy the occasional muted painting, but every single time without fail, some brightness just cannot help escaping onto the images, and before I realise what I’m doing the violent pinks and oranges are back with a vengeance.

Why do I blow the paint around? – I find it takes away an element of control, it makes me loosen my grip on the shapes within the painting and relax. Some of my favourite paintings have benefited immensely from a splash that went wild, or some ink that I spilled.