M.A's New Art Collection

MY NEW COLLECTIONS

Summer is just around the corner and with it comes three new pieces of art that I have been working on since late 2015. I wanted to create something that was a little different to my usual landscapes and abstracts, but I also wanted incorporate some familiarity in my new works.

Whenever I start working on a new piece of art I always go through a process. First I ponder the subject matter often for days, make numerous notes, and start doodling some ideas down. This can take me a while. My original "Rhino" art is one of my best selling pieces and the process of thinking and doodling took me almost six-months before I committed anything down on screen. You can view the original here: http://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com/featured/rhino-mark-taylor.html

Available now from http://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com/featured/rhino-mark-taylor.html

 

When I first started to use the iPad as a medium to create art I was curious too see if it would be possible to create any serious artwork on a tablet device. For many years I had been creating digital art using Photoshop, Illustrator, and a myriad of other software, but as I became more familiar with the iPad, I realised that I could produce even whilst I was traveling. Something that I have to do frequently in my day job. Turning up in hotels with three laptops was always difficult when it came to transporting them. Now I create 90% of my work on the iPad and use Photoshop and other software only for the final editing of some pieces.

RHINO AFRICA

 

Available on a range of products from http://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com/featured/rhino-africa-mark-taylor.html

My original "Rhino" was created in 2015, although it was a task I started at the end of 2014. I wanted to create something that captured the beauty of these magnificent creatures and to highlight their plight.

A network of organised crime exists that is devastating to Africa's wildlife. Stretching from the remotest wilds of Kenya to the port of Mombasa and extending out to the furthest reaches of China and South-East Asia.

Affluent middle classes buy ground-up rhino horn and ivory is carved and sold as trinkets. Save the Rhino estimates that there were 500,000 rhinos across Africa and Asia at the beginning of the 20th Century, yet today there are just 29,000 rhinos in the wild. 2013 was a record breaking year for poaching, coupled with declining habitats, the species is in real danger of becoming extinct.

In some areas armed guards are protecting rhinos. I have had the opportunity to see them in their natural habitats. You feel as if you’ve slipped back into the Jurassic era and were looking at some great horned dinosaur, for they couldn’t possibly be part of the 21st century. It’s as if the creatures of the past had suddenly invaded the present. Why would someone want to destroy them and do it so cruelly?

My new work is a follow up to the original and I plan on creating more of these pieces in the future. You can view my new work here: http://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com/featured/rhino-africa-mark-taylor.html

Both Rhino and Rhino Africa are available on a range of products including prints, home wares, phone cases, throw pillows, and clothing.

HELLO FRIEND

 

Hello Friend Art Collection available now!

I swam with Sharks a few years ago and it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. I felt every emotion as these majestic creatures swam within a few feet of me. Mainly fear I have to say, and despite the Sharks being only very small and none of them were Great Whites I hasten to add, just seeing the silhouette swimming close was enough to make me a little more than nervous. But the joy of seeing them up close is something I will always remember.

Sharks are increasingly becoming ever more threatened due to rising commercial and recreational fishing pressures. The impact of damage to habitats from coastal issues to marine pollution is something that will be close to impossible to recover from, although more should be done to protect sharks and other marine life.

Major declines in shark stocks have been recorded over the past few decades; some species have declined over 90% and population declines of 70% are not unusual. In particular, harvesting young sharks before they reproduce severely impacts future populations. Conservationists estimate that up to 100 million sharks are killed by commercial and recreational fishing every year.

My latest work "Hello Friend" depicts a small fish who swims up to the shark unnoticed, curiously looking toward the shark without any fear. Eventually they become friends and continue to explore the oceans together. The most unusual friendships are the ones that last forever. Despite the preconceptions that people have about sharks, the reality is that sharks only very rarely attack humans.

ROSE BOUQUET

 

Rose Bouquet Collection is Available Now!

I rarely create flowers in any of my works, but I was inspired when I started to think about how flowers can evoke different feelings. When thinking of the rose, it used to symbolise the Virgin Mary and, before her, Venus, the pricking of its barbs being likened to the wounds of love. The association still survives in the common meaning of a bunch of roses ('I love you'). Flowers might be delicate and short-lived but they have acquired a vast range of unpredictably durable meanings, a whole bouquet of significances: affection, virtue, chastity, wantonness, religious steadfastness, transience.

So I set about creating Rose Bouquet and it is now available on a range of products including prints, home wares, phone cases, throw pillows, and clothing. You can view it here: http://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com/featured/rose-bouquet-mark-taylor.html

That's all for today but later this week I will be publishing a new post that offers a range of strategies that artists can use to get their art seen in non-traditional venues. In the meantime why not take a look around my artist website over at: http://10-Mark-Taylor.pixels.com

 

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