Interview
Consenses Interview with Sally Taylor:
What was your mood the day you got this music? What were you feeling about the task of creating a painting from a song?
I was in my studio, feeling quite harmonious, ready to start the day.
Who was hearing this music? (Ex. you now? you as a child? you grandfather? The earth? The sky? A place? A time? Etc)
I sort of wanted to keep it at a distance a little bit, as the words are quite sad, it made me slow down, or i had to slow down to really let the strength of it speak… the gentle melody running between the words of sadness sort of drew me into it. The song spoke to my inner child, or the core of me…in a gentle but strong way, and it is speaking to my paintings for sure.
What did the song mean to you/them/It? (aka. What was the story you imagined the song was about and how did it translate into your painting?)
Strangely I found it quite reassuring, since it is so honest, and there must be hope and light in sight once such sadness and desperation is put into words and leaves the mouth. I think, well I can only speak for myself, but feelings like these take place in me from time to time…and streams of tears, but isn’t this part of being human, all these feelings…and what to do with them, am glad I paint.
What thought/image came to you first?
Quite dark warm colors, and a pair of hands reaches up towards some flowers, person reaching up towards them….
Was there a certain lyric or melody that specifically inspired a part of your painting?
‘been walking and talking for miles and miles but no one can hear me cry’
‘cold and dark wandering through the trees’
‘been swimming and sinking through waves and waves but no one can hear me cry’
How do you normally paint? How was this experience different that your normal process?
I incorporated the mood and feelings created from the song into my work…normally I work with figures and the atmosphere and air is vital, I started straight onto the canvas sketching and painting, and I knew it was going to be one figure wandering through a landscape…it was different in a way that I never get an idea from anyone else on what to create. I like sort of thinking that my figure wanted to show the song some strength and beauty in midst of darkness…
Who is the woman in this painting?
She knows what the person in the song is singing about all too well. She also knows darkness and light wanders hand in hand, walking through these moments in life is a part of the journey of becoming whole and truly beautiful, and she is trying to gently show the song empathy and warmth…and when time passes it will add another jewel to the crown.
What is her story? (Where is she? What is she feeling? Thinking? Does she have a name? Where is she going or coming from? etc)
She is someone who lives inside of me…and outside. She knows unexplainable emotions, she keeps secrets, she cries, and occasionally she blinks at me, to say ‘Kristin come with me, we know where to go, where the treasures are’…its personal…and she is also quite secretive even to me, but I like it that way…if I knew her inside out she would disappear…the landscape gives space and support to her…
As an artist, when you look at the painting now, what does it tell you about yourself/life/art? (Aka. is this a _____ metaphor for your own life?)
That wounds in the heart can be turned into beautiful flowers. She walks slowly through the landscape with feet a little turned inwards, but the red shoes helps to stand her ground…the dress is both a soft protection for the soul and a need to show the flowers of the soul. The painting comforts me. In my work there are layers of paint, and emotion, and I always reach for a balance…I strive towards a balance, somewhere my work can breath on its own, in a hopeful atmosphere…somewhere it is safe to show the nerve and soreness, somewhere it can be transformed into flowers.
Are there certain colors, styles, movements, lines or figures that you used which mean something specific to you that the observer might not know?
I am more interested in hearing what the observer sees, because it usually amazes me.
Extra credit: Did you enjoy this project?
Yes! Made my heart all nice and warm and sort of made believe in magic a bit more.
