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

Toni, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

I can clearly remember the very first dollar I received for selling my art! In 1969 when I was 10 years old, my Mom enrolled me into a neighborhood arts and crafts program for the summer (Thank you Mom!). We were encouraged to explore different mediums and to draw, paint or sculpt anything we liked. For one of my projects, I chose to use tempera on large poster board to paint the head and shoulders of a brown skinned woman with a short afro hairstyle wearing a pink top from a vision in my head. A friend of the director came in to our studio, saw my piece and his eyes literally went wide. He said the woman looked just like his Mother and he love it. I told him he could have it but he didn’t want to just take it. Instead he pulled out a $5 bill and said he wanted to pay me for it! I didn’t want to take his money but he insisted saying that he was proud to give me that $5, that I deserved it and predicted that it was going to be the first of many sales I would receive for my art! I was over the moon and felt so encouraged, especially at that age. My next sale came 2 years later when my stepfather’s co-worker commissioned me to paint a horse’s head on an 11×14 canvas board for $15. That was also a big deal for me. This continued in high school when my friends would ask me to paint something for them, a little project here and there really helped to build my confidence and skill! It’s nice to reflect on my early days.

Toni, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Given how my life has unfolded, I feel I was meant to be an artist. I was born with a myriad of health problems and had to be isolated quite a bit. In my isolation, crayons and coloring books were constant companions and I was content with them. For better or worse, I was one of those kids who did my best to color INside of the lines lol.. so I made it a goal to be neat. My pediatrician often asked his little patients to draw pictures for him. He told my mom that he saw something different about my drawings that stood out from most of the other kids.. apparently he saw potential and encouraged her to encourage me which she did. After my family moved from my birthplace of Mt. Vernon, NY to New Haven, CT, I had a elder cousin who would send me boxes of art supplies from NY for me to experiment with. She wasn’t an artist and didn’t know graphite lead from charcoal, but when she’d send random supplies, it was like Christmas for me! I’d receive more coloring books, the Big box of crayons with the sharpener in the back, sketch books, acrylics, oils, colored pencils, pastels, canvas boards, paint-by-number kits on velvet and even a device that melted colored wax for textured art. I’m sure that would be prohibited now for kids under 8 but I was always careful with it. There was lots of trial and error (I quickly learned that oils and water don’t mix) but I had fun with all of the supplies. Moving forward to grade school and high school, I was often the class artist painting or decorating the holiday bulletin boards, painted black light posters for friends and was elected to head the decorating committees for junior and senior HS prom. I didn’t have the best direction when it came time to choose a college. The only thing that held my interest was art but I wasn’t led to believe it could be a viable career, only a hobby. I did have an interest in fashion design so I moved back to NY and attended the Fashion Institute of Technology thinking that would be a good vocation to pursue. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel fulfilled at F.I.T. but I was continually drawing and painting on my own. A turning point in my life came in the guise of a wrong number.. aka serendipity/synchronicity.. I don’t believe in coincidence! The caller apologized for disturbing me, I replied you’re not disturbing me, I’m just drawing.. Oh, you’re an artist? I’m the chairman of the film department at the School of Visual Arts! We ended up talking for an hour! At that time I was unemployed but looking for a job. He suggested that I could be an artist model there until something better came along, at least I’d be in an artistic environment. I ended up working there consistently for 2 years. It paid my bills and I was able to connect with some of the instructors for critiques of my art which was very helpful. One of the instructors was a professional illustrator. He saw my potential and invited me to be his assistant. I stopped modeling and worked with him full time. I learned so much during the time I worked for him.. handling clients, keeping books, shooting models for reference and painting his under-paintings so all he had to do was touch them up and send them off to the clients. We held down a busy studio together. After 2 years, I was ready to spread my wings and head out on my own. I worked on my portfolio and started approaching art directors at magazine and book publishers to do cover art. I’ve always had a love for sci fi and fantasy genres and enjoyed bring a member of the Science Fiction Book Club for a long time. The first book cover I illustrated was a novel by sci fi writer Michael Moorcock and my first magazine cover was for Heavy Metal in ’85. I was an avid collector of Heavy Metal mags so that was a dream come true.. and I’m proud to say I was the 1st woman of color to paint a woman of color on their cover! I went on to paint more book covers and illustrate articles for magazines. I also had an 11 year chapter of being a scenic painter in Florida for clients such as Disney and Universal Studios but fine art is where I’m happiest. Illustration projects are a rarity these days but now and then I’ll still take that on. My favorite subjects to paint are what I call Soul Portrait commissions where I create elements around the subject that reflect the spirit of who they are inside. I take guidance from my clients combined with my intuition to create something unique.. it could be from a past life, them with a spirit animal or even on another planet. My work often lends itself to visionary and fantasy themes which I love. I find great satisfaction in lifting someone’s world with art. Sometimes tears of gratitude by clients has been the biggest reward!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I truly feel that I was meant to be an artist from my early years on to today. Art has been my vehicle to connect with so many people that’s led to unique interactions I could have only had as an artist. I feel that I’m fulfilling my dharma, my purpose, by bringing more creativity into this world. Bill Moyers asked of Joseph Campbell, a scholar, writer and the preeminent authority on mythology, “Who interprets the divinity in nature for us today? Who are our shamans? Who interprets unseen things for us?” Campbell replied, “It is the function of the artist to do this. The artist is the one who communicates myth for today.”
I’m grateful to be able to bring beauty, good energy and pieces of my soul to the canvas for others to enjoy. My journey has been long and arduous but I find that very rewarding.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

A couple of the more difficult challenges I’ve gone through was having 2 near death, flat-lining experiences from asthma attacks a year apart. The 1st was the result of being exposed to toxins in certain environments in the scenic industry in Florida at places like Disney and Universal Studios. It could be exciting at times working in the park environments and learning different techniques but it can also be dangerous. Most people have no idea what really goes into creating these magical spaces. There were often several crews working side by side from bottom up construction to the finishing touches using a wide variety of materials and tools. I was the canary in the coal mine as my asthma became chronic to the point where I had an attack and flatlined. It was a pretty scary scenario. After the first NDE in ’16, I no longer felt safe working in those environments and needed time to recuperate. That prompted my move to Georgia as my sister wanted me to live closer to her. The 2nd NDE was from black mold in a plumbing closet the building inspector failed to notice when she and I bought a house together a year later. It was very difficult to start from scratch twice, especially in a place where I knew no one and was running out of the resources I had while trying to recover physically, mentally and emotionally. Half of the time I was expecting another asthma attack to take me out again for good.. but I didn’t quit. It was a real mind trip that I didn’t overcome easily. One thing it did do was to solidify my resolve to work on my art and rediscover my artistic voice. Fine art became my therapy. Scenic work can both giveth and taketh away. I made a decent living but at the cost of my personal creativity and health. I’m happy that I’ve been able to reclaim both and have been fortunate to connect with some good souls along the way who’ve provided opportunities to introduce my work to new audiences. This is part of my ongoing journey!

Contact Info:

• Website: www. StarchildArtbyToniTaylor.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/StarchildArtbyToniTaylor
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonitaylor007/ – https://www.facebook.com/StarchildArtByToniTaylor/

Image Credits

Toni Taylor