Meet James Jared Taylor | Sculptor and Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with James Jared Taylor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James Jared, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I think that the most important part of the creative process is to practice as much as you can. For me, it can be a small watercolor in my sketchbook to a large sculpture, or even cleaning up the studio for a project. Daily practice in the studio is essential

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My life as an artist began at an early age. My father would take my siblings and I on adventures to the Cincinnati Art Museum. Visual art and music were something I always gravitated towards when I was in school. I went to the Kansas City Art Institute where I received my BFA and to Rutgers University where I earned my MFA. I also was a mobility student at the New York Studio School. They were some of the best educational experiences. I was an adjunct professor at California State University- San Bernardino and the College of the Desert. For twenty seven years, I taught full-time in Temecula Valley Unified School District and Palm Springs Unified School District. I found a good teacher learns much from his students.

Some of my best experiences are from traveling. In 2012, I walked from Southern France across Northern Spain on the historic Camino de Santiago- 500 hundred miles for 30 days all on foot to the city of Santiago de Compostela . In 2022, I was a resident artist at the ACI Residency in Corciano, Umbria, Italy. For the month of October 2022, I will be having a solo exhibition at the Coachella Valley Art Center in Indio, California.

After being a practicing artist and art educator for close over forty years, I have found that working in the creative field takes dedication and practice that brings success but also disappointment. I work everyday even when I was a full-time teacher. I retired from teaching in 2020. I always carry a small sketchbook everywhere I go. I also play guitar, mostly jazz, and I have found that to get better, one must practice. Practice is the most important part of being a visual artist or musician. Sometimes, I get really anxious if I have not engaged in the creative process for a day. The challenge is to work every day- even if it is a tiny watercolor in my sketchbook or practicing my scales on guitar. The finished artwork (if there is such a thing) is a culmination of thought and dedicated practice.

I have worked in various media: acrylic paint, oil paint, printmaking, bronze, steel, wood, ceramics, works on paper, stage set design, etc. All the work is an extension of me. Although I have worked representationally (mostly human figures in bronze), most of my paintings and sculptures are non-representational and abstract although they emanate from actual things, particularly architecture, maps, pattern design, human or animal form, and sometimes visual interpretations of jazz.

An artist cannot sit around and wait for inspiration. As the renowned artist, the late Chuck Close said, “inspiration is for amateurs.” He said this in an address to a National Art Education Association conference that I attended. He was (and still is) right. The challenge is to keep working, keep thinking, and also to share what I have created- sharing being the most challenging because finding galleries and venues takes time.

The best thing a creative person can do is to be engaged daily in the creative process even if it is something small like cleaning the studio for a new project.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Most of my family and friends live outside of California and they love the outdoors. First, we would head to the beach. I have four surfboards. Along the way, we would check out various restaurants for different cultural culinary fare. We would finish the trip with hiking from the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway or some camping and hiking in Joshua Tree if the weather is cool. If they like music, we would go to a concert.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people to whom I could dedicate my shout-out- my parents who encouraged my endeavor as an artist, my siblings who are members of the creative class, my undergraduate foundations professor at the Kansas City Art Institute- Willem Volkersz, my cousin Frank Russell who is an architect with whom I have a lifelong friendship, my godparents who encouraged me to take adventures, and most of all my wife, Brooke, who has watched me fail and succeed.

Website: https://jamesjaredtaylorarts.com

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