THIS week we chat with artist and author Garry Taylor.<\/p>\n
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What initially motivated you to become an artist?<\/strong><\/p>\n I always loved drawing and I didn’t really think of being anything else. I just pursued it in my own way. When I was in secondary school I majored in art and it was difficult afterwards to get into the workforce. I decided to do my artwork and hold exhibitions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You have a really unique style. How would you describe it and how did you develop it?<\/strong><\/p>\n My proper painting style is realism. I usually paint still life paintings. I paint in gouache, watercolour, ink and pencil. The book on clothing I self-published had to have illustrations, some like caricatures.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What\u2019s the story behind your self-published book Clothed in Memory<\/em>? How did it come about and what was the process in putting it together?<\/strong><\/p>\n I decided to work on a particular project so my spare time would be filled with something that was actually building toward something, namely a book. I wrote some letters to celebrities to see if I could get replies. Of course I did not get replies to all my letters, but enough came in for me to start the book. It’s a book in which about 80 famous persons recall a garment or garments they have worn sometime during their life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Which other artists inspire you and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n So many artists inspire me. Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Paul Cezanne, Pierre Roy, Hilda Rix-Nicholls, and also photographers like Cecil Beaton, Norman Parkinson and others.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What are some highlights or fond memories you have from your career so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, I recall meeting the Melbourne artist Vali Myers. When I showed her my work she told me to go to Emerald Hill Gallery South Melbourne. She said, “We’re going to launch him!\u201d Needless to say I was not launched, but I am proud of any showings of my work and Vali came to see that exhibition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How has your practice been affected by COVID? Has there been little change, or has it had a substantial effect?<\/strong><\/p>\n COVID affected me a little in that shops were reluctant to accept books on commission during the COVID period. Sometimes I was dubious though of the COVID excuse.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n