Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Colleen Taylor. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Colleen, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I believe by now, after decades of experience, my legacy has been pretty much built. I’m not stating that I’ve completed everything that I had hoped for but I am still continuing with fresh new ideas and designs.

From humble and meager beginnings on a farm in the middle of western Kansas, I’ve never forgotten my roots. Not having indoor plumbing and those small luxuries we take for granted, have presented me with the hard work ethic of my ancestors.

For a reason unknown to me, I’ve always been an entrepreneurial business person. Consistently searching for the next challenge, I became interested in investing, rehabbing and redeveloping residential real estate. This was an extremely demanding and stressful learning experience for me. Many times I had doubts about my abilities however, I never backed down from adversity. If I didn’t know how to accomplish a task, I taught myself how to complete it. Thankfully, these projects proved to be lucrative and successful for me.
During this time, I came upon the decision to develop the artistic side of my potential career. I proceeded back to school and explored a number of subjects especially the graphic design and digital art fields. The rest is history having completed hundreds of large format wall murals projects and special wall finishes for residential and commercial clients within Denver, the Rocky Mountain regions, Kansas, Florida, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and Mexico.

I’ve had numerous clients ranging from professional athletes, Beringer Vineyards, Warner Bros, The Denver Broncos Organization, Colorado Rockies Baseball organization, professional builders and private clients. I have continued to remain close friends to a number of my past clients. To this day, many have treated me as part of their family. There is no better feeling than that.

I’ve been featured and published in the Denver Design Resources, the Parade of Homes, and many other publications throughout Colorado and the surrounding Rocky Mountains and Arizona. I’ve become an internationally renowned professional artist, mixed media and digital art painter and am an image licensed and a Rights-Managed license artist.

Within the last several years, I collaborated with several professional musicians, to create the illustrations for two of their songs turned into beautiful children’s books. I self published these children’s hardcover songbooks, titled, “The Cat, the Fiddle and Me” and “It’s A Rainforest.”

These books are available for sale at Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobel.com and other independent bookstores worldwide. I’ve been a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and an Associate Member of The Graphics Artists Guild, Inc.

I’ve attempted to master the art of creating unique, elegant and stunning paintings. I combine organic traditional paints with the latest technological advances in the fine art field, which make my paintings one-of-a-kind works of art. It may be a portrait of a loved one, a field of sunflowers, a precious pet, or a child being chased by the waves of the vast sea. My hope is that I’ve captured the essence of the moment in an original painting that will be treasured forever. Therein lies my legacy to bring happiness and treasures to those who have chosen me to create works of art for them.

Colleen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have answered all of these questions and information previously in your last questions.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I have so many client stories similar to this one, however, some stand out more than others. When people invite you into their homes and eventually hire you to work in their home, you become privy to an intimate part of their lives.

A potential client reached out to me to arrive at her home to present her with an estimate for special wall finishes in addition to a mural in her master bedroom and bath. Never quite knowing what to expect, I arrived at her home to meet her. Some of her five children had just arrived home from school. She proceeded to take me upstairs to her bedroom and then described to me what she had in mind regarding colors and design.

I understood what she visually had in her mind and gave her my ideas and recommendations. As I looked around the room, something appeared to be strange and rather eerie. She then proceeded to tell me that her husband had recently taken his own life in that bedroom. She told me the walls had been scrubbed down as best as they could and the previously blood stained carpet and mattress were replaced. Visually, I could still see some of the remaining bloodstains on her walls. Her goal for me was to refresh and replenish that bedroom and bathroom so she could endeavor to forget the tragedy that occurred there. I had all I could to contain myself by holding back my tears and keep myself together at that point.

I can’t begin to express how difficult it was to concentrate on this project as I progressed around the rooms. Concentrating became difficult as I covered the stains of blood on all her walls. I wanted to eliminate all the remaining heartbreak and tragedy in those rooms, but how do you truly accomplish this? I kept wondering how a husband and father could do such a horrible thing to his family. Apparently, his financial problems were more than he could bear.

After several days working on those rooms, I completed the project and called her upstairs to see the final result and ask her if there was anything else I could do for her. At that point, all five children came running in the room and were gleefully jumping on the bed with high-spirited joy. I had to hide my face with tears flowing at this point. I knew I had made a difference in their lives. We kept in touch after that for some time. She would write to me about their lives and send me photos of her children as they continued to flourish and grow as the years progressed.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Instant gratification from my clients! Although, I’ve held numerous positions within a corporate structure in business offices, I never had to wait to be applauded or commended in order to try to please those within a corporation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://colleen-taylor.pixels.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tayco_mojo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColleenTaylorArtDesign
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ctaylorartistry