Phil Taylor
Phil Taylor was born in 1964 in the North West of England, where he spent most of his formative years. He attended art college in his youth but took up a career in social care which prevented him from pursuing art at the time and he now considers himself to be largely self-taught. He spent his working life actively involved in supporting vulnerable people with disabilities to gain independence, through public sector organisations. He recently retired from this career path to concentrate on his life-long passion for painting and creating.
He has recently moved his studio in Rivington, Lancashire, to a houseboat on the Rochdale Canal in Hebron Bridge, West Yorkshire and spends his time working from ‘Wheelhouse Studio’ and the surrounding countryside. The moorland and the sea remain his main sources of inspiration. Frequent walks through moorland and along the coast inspire him to try to develop a greater understanding of the changing seasons and to explore nature’s colours and rhythms.
Phil’s usual mediums are gouache, pencils and acrylics, but he has recently diversified and experimented to use a wider range of mediums including his own hand-made paper boards.
’A few years ago, I took an overnight journey across the North Sea on my way to Copenhagen. I spent many hours watching the movement of the waves, lit only by the lights of the ships and fading long into the darkness. It was mesmerising.
The monochrome format reminded me and connected me again to that journey. With those memories and working from the photos taken whilst walking the East coast, the pieces finally came forward in a way that made sense to me.”