Victoria Taylor-Gore - Quiet Surrealism (22)
02/11/20 • 71 min
Victoria Taylor-Gore's surrealistic, luminous paintings are imaginary places at the boundary of twilight and dreams. Seemingly devoid of people, her paintings pull you into their quiet mystery. Her paintings fill your mind with questions: Who opened the motel room door? Who left the suitcase by the neatly made bed? Who is in the car whose lit headlamp spills light through the open door of the motel? Where is this lonely motel? Where did the people go? Have they just arrived? Or, are they getting ready to depart? It appears that the inhabitant of the room has just stepped out of sight. Or, have they? Then you realize that perhaps you are the inhabitant of that room. You've become a part of Victoria’s painting and its mystery.
Victoria, who recently retired as the dean of liberal arts at Amarillo College, now devotes herself full-time to creating pastel and mixed-media paintings inspired by her love of film noir, the landscape of the high plains, and Route 66. Her use of exaggerated perspective creates a sense of unease and suspense. The open doors and windows invite movement between intimate interiors and dark, open exteriors – heightening your curiosity as to what lies either beyond or within. Her unique visual vocabulary is beautifully expressed in her evocative paintings of Quiet Surrealism.
I recently saw Victoria Taylor-Gore mentioned in Southwest Art magazine article. It was an exciting reminder of a conversation I had with her about ten years ago when I interviewed Victoria in a filmmaking and photography podcast I used to produce. At that time, a revolution in photography and video had appeared seemingly out of nowhere that allowed creators to produce high definition video of stunning cinematic quality with affordable digital DSLR cameras. It was an exciting development that encouraged creative experimentation. Victoria was an early adopter of this new video technology. She began experimenting with making videos using her collection of vintage toy cars, dollhouses, and figurines. Having seen her work, I invited her to be interviewed in that early podcast. In that first conversation, I learned that Victoria was inspired by film noir, surrealist artist Giorgio de Chirico, and filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. Ten years later that inspiration continues to influence her art.
Mentioned in this episode:
Victoria Taylor-Gore website: https://www.victoriataylorgore.com
Victoria on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Victoria-Taylor-Gores-Page-342542963435/
Victoria on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vtg60/
Listener websites:
Frank Walsh: https://frankwalshoriginals.com
Sarah Skinner: https://sarahskinnerwildlifeart.wordpress.com
About the Artful Painter:
The Artful Painter website: https://carlolson.tv
Donate to support the Artful Painter: https://carlolson.tv/donate
Send me an email: https://carlolson.tv/contact
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artful.creative/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carl.olson.9847 https://www.facebook.com/carlolsontv/
Reading Essentials: https://carlolson.tv/reading-essentials
Subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIo1YmQXnMm21b-Slkr69Tg
This page may contain affiliate links from which I earn a small commission. When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Victoria Taylor-Gore's surrealistic, luminous paintings are imaginary places at the boundary of twilight and dreams. Seemingly devoid of people, her paintings pull you into their quiet mystery. Her paintings fill your mind with questions: Who opened the motel room door? Who left the suitcase by the neatly made bed? Who is in the car whose lit headlamp spills light through the open door of the motel? Where is this lonely motel? Where did the people go? Have they just arrived? Or, are they getting ready to depart? It appears that the inhabitant of the room has just stepped out of sight. Or, have they? Then you realize that perhaps you are the inhabitant of that room. You've become a part of Victoria’s painting and its mystery.
Victoria, who recently retired as the dean of liberal arts at Amarillo College, now devotes herself full-time to creating pastel and mixed-media paintings inspired by her love of film noir, the landscape of the high plains, and Route 66. Her use of exaggerated perspective creates a sense of unease and suspense. The open doors and windows invite movement between intimate interiors and dark, open exteriors – heightening your curiosity as to what lies either beyond or within. Her unique visual vocabulary is beautifully expressed in her evocative paintings of Quiet Surrealism.
I recently saw Victoria Taylor-Gore mentioned in Southwest Art magazine article. It was an exciting reminder of a conversation I had with her about ten years ago when I interviewed Victoria in a filmmaking and photography podcast I used to produce. At that time, a revolution in photography and video had appeared seemingly out of nowhere that allowed creators to produce high definition video of stunning cinematic quality with affordable digital DSLR cameras. It was an exciting development that encouraged creative experimentation. Victoria was an early adopter of this new video technology. She began experimenting with making videos using her collection of vintage toy cars, dollhouses, and figurines. Having seen her work, I invited her to be interviewed in that early podcast. In that first conversation, I learned that Victoria was inspired by film noir, surrealist artist Giorgio de Chirico, and filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. Ten years later that inspiration continues to influence her art.
Mentioned in this episode:
Victoria Taylor-Gore website: https://www.victoriataylorgore.com
Victoria on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Victoria-Taylor-Gores-Page-342542963435/
Victoria on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vtg60/
Listener websites:
Frank Walsh: https://frankwalshoriginals.com
Sarah Skinner: https://sarahskinnerwildlifeart.wordpress.com
About the Artful Painter:
The Artful Painter website: https://carlolson.tv
Donate to support the Artful Painter: https://carlolson.tv/donate
Send me an email: https://carlolson.tv/contact
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artful.creative/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carl.olson.9847 https://www.facebook.com/carlolsontv/
Reading Essentials: https://carlolson.tv/reading-essentials
Subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIo1YmQXnMm21b-Slkr69Tg
This page may contain affiliate links from which I earn a small commission. When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Previous Episode
Skip Whitcomb - Purity of Vision (21)
Skip Whitcomb says the subject of a painting is the painting, not the subject itself! He reasons that the viewer will never see the actual subject. Therefore, we must make that painting as captivating and poetic as possible. It’s nothing more than paint on a canvas. This is what we attempt in its purest form. Skip states: “Once you internalize the language of painting, you never see the world the same way. It never leaves you. The veil of rational order is lifted and what hangs in the air are sensations of painted possibilities. On good days, some would call it poetry.”
Skip Whitcomb resides in Colorado. He has received numerous awards for his landscape paintings in oil and pastel. At the 2017 Prix de West Show in Oklahoma City, for example, Skip was honored with the Donald Teague Memorial Award, for best work on paper. Skip is an active member of the Plein Air Painters of America. In fact, it was at PAPA event at the Booth Museum of Western Art that I first met Skip.
In this episode of the Artful Painter, Skip shares his Five Principles of painting that each artist must master. His love of nature and geology are integral to his art-making. He is not a painter simply passing through the landscape of the American West, he lingers at each location, intently observing. Skip says his time outdoor painting is his opportunity to harvest ideas and concepts. Often visiting the same locations, these timeless places become like old friends who continue to delight you as you discover new things about them. Skip seeks purity of vision in his work.
Mentioned in this episode:
Skip Whitcomb website: https://www.skipwhitcomb.com
Plein Air Painters of America: https://pleinairpaintersofamerica.com
About the Artful Painter:
Donate to support the Artful Painter: https://carlolson.tv/donate
Send me an email: https://carlolson.tv/contact
The Artful Painter podcast: https://carlolson.tv/artful-painter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artful.creative/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carl.olson.9847
https://www.facebook.com/carlolsontv/
Reading Essentials: https://carlolson.tv/reading-essentials
Subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIo1YmQXnMm21b-Slkr69Tg
This page may contain affiliate links from which I earn a small commission. When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Next Episode
Jim McVicker - A Way of Seeing (23)
Jim McVicker imbues atmosphere and light into his paintings that stir the heart. Whether it’s an expansive view of the Pacific coast near his home in Humboldt County, California, or an intimate interior still life set within his studio – his paintings are filled with a sense of solace and peace. Jim began painting full time in the mid-1970s. His early education as a painter began when working closely with artists Curtis Otto, James B. Moore, and George Van Hook. Painting nearly every day together, Jim assimilated what he observed, but developed his own voice. Though his primary joy is in painting representational art, Jim experimented heavily with abstract and non-objective painting for a few years. He says the lessons he learned from that period of experimentation positively influenced his approach to representational painting.
Jim values painting outdoors and in the studio. You could say he has two studios – the great outdoors and his home studio. In this episode, Jim encourages us to embrace painting direct from life and to allow ourselves to be taught by nature. Rather than rigorously follow tedious formulas and rules of design, Jim encourages us to trust our intuition as an artist. Jim’s keen use of his artistic eye, mind, and heart have beautifully honed his way of seeing.
Mentioned in this episode:
Jim McVicker website: https://jimmcvickerpaints.com/
Jim McVicker on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRlfpZgtf3Ya9S_T0iGKvVQ
Video: Jim McVicker: A Way of Seeing: https://youtu.be/_Vpgg-Pa4p0
Theresa Oats: https://theresaoatspaintings.blogspot.com
Curtis Otto: https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/curtis-otto-was-a-painter/Content?oid=3398139
George Van Hook: https://georgevanhookfineartist.com
Morris Graves: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Graves
How Much Water Can You Safely Add to Acrylic Paint? – Just Paint - Golden Artist Colors, Inc.: https://www.justpaint.org/how-much-water-can-you-safely-add-to-acrylic-paint/
A Craftsman’s Legacy: Why Working with Our Hands Gives Us Meaning by Eric Gorges: https://amzn.to/2SCvYEW
About the Artful Painter:
The Artful Painter website: https://carlolson.tv
Donate to support the Artful Painter: https://carlolson.tv/donate
Send me an email: https://carlolson.tv/contact
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artful.creative/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carl.olson.9847 https://www.facebook.com/carlolsontv/
Reading Essentials: https://carlolson.tv/reading-essentials
Subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIo1YmQXnMm21b-Slkr69Tg
This page may contain affiliate links from which I earn a small commission. When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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