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Passages 3 by Victoria Taylor-GoreThis blog is to show my work and the work of other artists that I am interested in, and then get some feedback from you - thus the Art Journal! After viewing so many compelling blogs, I decided to try my own. My main site is at victoriataylorgore.com, so please visit there to get more information about me and my art work. My work is represented by the Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
A Blog by Victoria Taylor-Gore
07/03/2009
06/30/2009
Through the Window by Victoria Taylor-Gore
Through the Window by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Through the Window " is another pastel that I just did for my upcoming two-person show with Phil Epp Santa Fe at the Alexandra Stevens Gallery in July. This exterior is a bird's eye view of a house with a chair that is positioned to look through the front window of the house...an "outside looking in" theme. The perspective is exaggerated to enhance the emotional impact of the structures and make them come to life. Show information: July 2009- Phil Epp and Victoria Taylor-Gore.
These artists will be featured during the Month of July, with an Artist Reception July 10th from 5:30 to 7:30. For purchase information see Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe (www.alexandrastevens.com).
06/27/2009
Fire Behind the Door by Victoria Taylor-Gore
Fire Behind the Door by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Fire Behind the Door " is another pastel that I just did for my upcoming two-person show with Phil Epp Santa Fe at the Alexandra Stevens Gallery in July. In this interior, I an exploring three dividions of space. The left side is a shadowed section of the room with a window that frames a distant temple on the hill outside. The center section of the room is illuminated by the light streaming in from the door. The right section is again a darker corner of the room with a fire that glows in contrast to the dark. Show information: July 2009- Phil Epp and Victoria Taylor-Gore.
These artists will be featured during the Month of July, with an Artist Reception July 10th from 5:30 to 7:30. For purchase information see Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe (www.alexandrastevens.com).
06/24/2009
Afternoon Light by Victoria Taylor-Gore
Afternoon Light by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Afternoon Light " is another pastel that I just did for my upcoming two-person show with Phil Epp Santa Fe at the Alexandra Stevens Gallery in July. In this pastel, In this pastel, the late afternoon light glows into the dark room with a fire in the corner fireplace. The landscape above the bed reflects the afternoon light as well. Show information: July 2009- Phil Epp and Victoria Taylor-Gore.
These artists will be featured during the Month of July, with an Artist Reception July 10th from 5:30 to 7:30. For purchase information see Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe (www.alexandrastevens.com).
06/22/2009
06/17/2009
06/15/2009
Summer Pastels..."Two Doors" by Victoria Taylor-Gore
Two Doors by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Two Doors" is a pastel that I just did for my upcoming two-person show with Phillip Epp Santa Fe at the Alexandra Stevens Gallery in July. Inside and outside...light coming in and light going out. There is a little more distance in the view out the window than I usually have achieved in previous interiors. The room is dark for contrast to the late evening glow from the outer landscape. And of course, there is a painting of my little boat in the room...always ready for a journey, but not quite. For purchase information see Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe (www.alexandrastevens.com).
06/05/2009
04/29/2009
The Route 66 Series with new music...
Music: Once in a Blue Moon by Lovespirals...
This series of pastels by Victoria Taylor-Gore (http://victoriataylorgore.com) represents an imaginative journey down the Route 66 of the 1940's through the 1960's.
04/28/2009
New Spring Pastels
Red House by Victoria Taylor-Gore These are new spring pastels that I have done recently. "Red House" is a large pastel reminscent of the "Passages" series, but with color...I'm just in the mood for color! This summer Iwill be having a show at the Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe in July with Phillip Epp, so check back for more details, images, and show dates.
Cool Clouds by Victoria Taylor-Gore
01/03/2009
Around the Hill
Around the Hill by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Around the Hill" is a pastel that I did for my Christmas 2008 show in Santa Fe. I was interested in the road curving around the hill - some dynamic movement. The land has warm and cool greens and warm red shadows. The chair is there to invite the viewer to sit down and enjoy the view...for purchase information see Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe (www.alexandrastevens.com).
Hill Behind
Hill Behind by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Hill Behind" is a pastel that I did for my Christmas 2008 show in Santa Fe. Cool dark colors set off the light inside the house, and there is a spot of warm light on the hill behind the house...for purchase information see Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe (www.alexandrastevens.com).
Second Passage
Second Passage by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Second Passage" is a pastel that I did for my Christmas 2008 show in Santa Fe. This pastel is based on an earlier piece from my "Passages" series - I enjoy the constrast of the grey neutral color with a bit of rich color in certain areas for emphasis. This series is about the journey of life, symbolized by the passage of the small boat...for purchase information see Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe (www.alexandrastevens.com).
Twilight Temple
Twilight Temple by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Twilight Temple" is a pastel that I did for my Christmas 2008 show in Santa Fe. The small light colored temple here is set against the darker, rich colors of the sky and landscape around it, and a cool shadow falls on the left side of the facade...for purchase information see Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe (www.alexandrastevens.com).
To the Light
To the Light by Victoria Taylor-Gore "To the Light" is a pastel that I did for my Christmas 2008 show in Santa Fe. The cool blue house is brightened by a soft pink light in the house that is also reflected in the distant cloud above the dark hill in the distance...for purchase information see Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe (www.alexandrastevens.com).
House at Sunset
House at Sunset by Victoria Taylor-Gore "House at Sunset" is a pastel that I did for my Christmas 2008 show in Santa Fe. The simple blue house is set in a dynamic two point perspective, and the rich warm colors of the landscape radiate from inside the house...for purchase information see Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe (www.alexandrastevens.com).
House in Shadow
House in Shadow by Victoria Taylor-Gore "House in Shadow" is a pastel that I did for my Christmas 2008 show in Santa Fe. The towering dark house in front features a small window that glows with the light of the surrounding landscape, and the earth colored road swings around the back of the house...for purchase information see Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe (www.alexandrastevens.com).
The Road Around
The Road Around by Victoria Taylor-Gore "The Road Around" is a pastel that I did for my Christmas 2008 show in Santa Fe. This small blue house is nestled into the landscape around it, and the road in front moves the viewer's eye around the small hill behind the house...for purchase information see Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe (www.alexandrastevens.com).
12/09/2008
Earth Color
Earth Color by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Earth Color " is a new pastel for my Christmas show at Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe. This exterior is bathed in a dark twilight zone of deep colors and shadows. I tried to capture the warm earth colors of the land in contrast to the cool and peaceful blue and violet of the sky, temple, and wall. This pastel will be featured in my ad with the Alexandra Stevens Gallery for the 2009 Collectors Guide for Taos and Santa Fe. For purchasing information, contact the Alexandra Stevens Gallery.
New and Improved Approach to Teaching
Reality in the classroom (above)...
New and improved method of teaching (above)...
08/10/2008
House Behind
House behind by Victoria Taylor-Gore "House Behind" is another horizontal pastel with a winding road that moves your eye to the distant hills behind the houses.
08/03/2008
Red House, Blue House
Red House, Blue House by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Red House, Blue House" is another horizontal landscape with houses that suggest the idea of community. The curving road leads back and swings around the smaller, cool blue house that fades into the darkening night sky.
06/22/2008
Moving Collages by Victoria Taylor-Gore
Moving Collages by Victoria Taylor-Gore I am doing some animated dioramas of surreal collages called "Moving Collages" in Flash 8 and Photoshop this summer. These are just experiments that I have wanted to do for a long time...it has been several years since I did a series of collages that I called "Digital Collages" - and the addition of subtle movement seems to give these new images more life. There will be more following this first experiment. Let me know what you think! I got the cool background tiles from FlashDen. The latest Adobe Flash player is required to view the collages.
06/07/2008
One Room House by Victoria Taylor-Gore
One Room House by Victoria Taylor-Gore "One Room House" is my first pastel of the summer. It features a small single room house with gold inner light that contrasts with the cool colors of the exterior walls of the house and the shadows. There is a chair in the foreground that is turned out toward the viewer and positioned diagonally, inviting one into the landscape and the twilight.
06/03/2008
05/24/2008
Artist Robert Rauschenberg
I was saddened by the death of Robert Rauschenberg this week. Though his work has no obvious connection to my current work, he had an enormous influence on me as a young artist. His work taught me to see art a completely new way, and to experiment with the "rules" that I had learned growing up. His influence on the art of today is huge, and he was productive until the end of his life - I have so much respect for him and will always be grateful for his contributions in art.
12/22/2007
The Moon Behind by Victoria Taylor-Gore
The Moon Behind by Victoria Taylor-Gore "The Moon Behind " is a small pastel for my Christmas show at Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe. This landscape feature the moon above the trees as all the forms seem to gather around and direct the viewer's eye to the rising moon.
House Up the Road by Victoria Taylor-Gore
House Up the Road by Victoria Taylor-Gore "House Up the Road " is another pastel for my Christmas show at Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe. This medium sized pastel has two houses, one warm and one cool. There is a sense of deep space between the houses, and once again, the road connects them. The houses are softly lit up by a far away moon in a deep night sky.
The Tree in Front by Victoria Taylor-Gore
The Tree in Front by Victoria Taylor-Gore "The Tree in Front " is a medium sized pastel for my Christmas show at Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe. This night scene has a large tree on a hill in front of a dark house with the moon softly illuminating the landscape. The road swings around the hill, symbolizing the journey through life.
Near the Boat - Pastel by Victoria Taylor-Gore
Near the Boat by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Near the Boat " is another small pastel landscape for my Christmas show at Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe. This pastel features a close up view of the boat on a hill overlooking a house below, with another small house off in the distance.
12/21/2007
Room Inside - New Oil by Victoria Taylor-Gore
Room Inside (oil) by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Room Inside " is an oil interior for my Christmas show at Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe. This full color interior has several paintings within the painting - a black and white painting in the "Passages" series on the blue wall and a small painting of a woman on the dark wall in the left foreground - much easier to do this delicate detail in oil than in pastel. The room stretches out giving the viewer a sense of depth, and the open door opens up into another landscape beyond. I loved doing this image in oil.
12/19/2007
New Oil Painting by Victoria Taylor-Gore
Boat Below (oil) by Victoria Taylor-Gore "Boat Below" (another new work for my Christmas show) is an oil - one of a few new oils for my Christmas show at Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe. I have not done oils for 12 years - and now I remember how hard they are to photograph! This painting is a little richer and has more contrast than this photgraph of it. I am very excited about doing new oils. The challenge has always been to give them the same richness that my pastels have, but still do a good painting. Paintings are just different that pastels - they have a unique surface that is glossier than that deep matt surface of a pastel, but they are what they are, and they have a richness all their own. See the announcement about my show in Southwest Art Magazine
Beyond the Curtain by Victoria Taylor-Gore
Beyond the Curtain by Victoria Taylor-Gore This is a new pastel for my Christmas show in Santa Fe (at Alexandra Stevens Gallery). "Beyond the Curtain" has a surreal composition with the Magritte style curtain in the foreground that introduces the viewer to a dream like reality, and invites the viewer to put this image into their own imaginative context...what kind of space it this - a stage with props? A giant curtain in a landscape? You are left to decide.
12/01/2007
Jackson Pollock Widget by Miltos Manetas
Above is a great free widget called Jackson Pollock by Miltos Manetas from Widgetbox - fun to play with the color and splatters - just move your mouse around the white area above and then click your mouse to change the color. See real Jackson Pollock in action at the links below:
Jackson Pollock painting (1950)
Jackson Pollock exhibit discussed on Charlie Rose
Jackson Pollock feature on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer
Jackson Pollock - Movie "Pollock" - discussed on Charlie Rose (1)
Jackson Pollock - Movie "Pollock" - discussed Charlie Rose (2)
11/26/2007
"On the Hill" by Victoria Taylor-Gore
On the Hill by Victoria Taylor-Gore
I am getting ready for my Christmas exhibition at Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe. I will be featuring new black and white (with a little color) pastels from the Passages series, and I will also have a variety of other pastels including new interiors and small, affordable pastels in the show. By the Shore is one of the new pieces for the show.
In "On the Hill, I played a little with the bird's eye view perspective, and the viewer looks down over the entrance to the building and the steps in front of it that cascade down to the hill below. Far off in the still lake, the small boat floats peacefully in the deep blue water...this piece is meant to give a feeling of sweeping movement and then rest.
The reception for my show will be the evening of December 24, and takes place during the Canyon Road Christmas Eve Farolito Walk, a Christmas Eve walk up Canyon Road. The street is lines with farolitos (small brown bags filled with sand and a votive candle, to light the way for the Christ Child) so it is a beautiful walk up Canyon Road on Christmas Eve! Many of the other galleries and shops will be open late for the Farolito Walk. If you would like to be added to my mailing list for the show, please contact the Alexandra Stevens Gallery and they will send you an invitation to the show - just be sure to specify that you would like to receive an invitation to my show.
By the Shore by Victoria Taylor-Gore "By the Shore" (another new work for my Christmas show) is a little different perspective for my work - looking up at the house on the shore instead of the typical bird's eye view of the landscape below. The viewer still has the feeling of floating above the water and the boat, and I have set the boat on a diagonal to give a sensation of movement, like the boat is flowing downstream. The chair in front of the house invites the viewer to come up and sit on the hill and contemplate the view! I am very interested in the use of black and white and gray with the contrast of a few colors and their complementaries...the stark grays set off the blue and orange and give a sense of special meaning to the colored objects.
08/29/2007
Free Image...
Click here for a large image of my pastel "Open Room" for you to download (about 52KB) - makes a nice widescreen screensaver. When you see the image, just right click (on a PC) and save the image to your computer. Please don't remove my website address, copyright and name - free for you to use for personal use only. I will be posting more large images of my pastels from time to time, so check back for more. Thanks for visiting! Victoria...
08/28/2007
Late Summer Pastels by Victoria Taylor-Gore
Open Room by Victoria Taylor-Gore This is a new pastel that I did for some clients that wanted a simple warm interior with a more comfortable chair. I think the soft chair makes the room more inviting to the viewer...come in and relax by the fire! Then take a trip outside through the open door. I worked with the complements blue and orange in the contrast of the blue chair, blue floor and blue sky versus the warm walls and the warm fireplace. Complementary contrast always makes the color come alive. I also like to emphasize the continuity of inside and outside by an open door with no obstruction to the landscape beyond.
Blue House by Victoria Taylor-GoreThis is a new exterior pastel with a simple blue house that contrasts the warm gold hills and light from the house and also the sunset colored sky. This piece will be on the cover of the September issue of Enchanted Homes, which is a full color magazine that is published by the Taos News.
07/13/2007
New Pastel in the "Passages" Series
Passages 7 by Victoria Taylor-Gore This is another pastel in the "Passages" series. There is an easel with a painting of a boat inside the door - not the first time an artist has included a painting within a painting, and the easel for me is a reference to the process of making art, the magic of illusion, the creative act of visualizing another world where it did not exist before. Of course, there is also the power of repetition - I emphasize the importance of the boat by presenting it outside and then again in the painting inside the house.
The Human Condition by Magritte
Magritte (Belgian Surrealist artist, 20th century) uses the image of a painting on an easel in front of a door, and the painting blends into its own theme of the seascape behind. My placement of the easel in my work is never as tricky as Magritte's visual interplay of reality and image - I just present an alternative world of quiet symbols and let the viewer make connections.
The Artist in His Studio by Rembrandt
Here Rembrandt (Dutch Baroque artist, 17th century) stands in his studio across from one of his paintings on a large easel. Rembrandt has turned the painting on the easel away from us. I don't think he is playing tricks on us like Magritte does - instead he is just telling us about the personal connection between an artist and his work. I love the simplicity of this work - we see Rembrandt in the act of contemplating his own work, with nothing in between him and the painting except a mysterious light. Even though I don't paint myself directly in my work, the inclusion of a painting within a painting in my work also represents my connection to my work.
Velasquez (Spanish Baroque artist, 17th century) also turns a large canvas away from us in Las Meninas. He looks directly out at us as he paints, as if we were the subjects of his enormous painting. He deliberately wraps us up in the content and the illusion of the painting...he not only presents another reality to us, he magically zaps us into the work itself. What Velasquez does in this work amazes me. If I get someone to visually explore my work, it is only by an open invitation - leaving figures out so that the viewer can freely enter the space and pull up a chair!
07/12/2007
New Little Square Pastels
Boat and Moon by Victoria Taylor-Gore
These new pastels are inspired by my new website design. When I made a new thumbnail gallery for my pastels, I cropped little square details of my pastels for the thumbnails, and I loved the little square cropped pieces. I decided to do some new square pastels...nice change for me, and even though they are small (around 6 1/2 inches square), they are more expansive than small rectangular compositions. "Boat and Moon" focuses on the symbol of the boat on dry land...the meaning of that is up to you to decide!
Gold Light by Victoria Taylor-Gore
"Gold Light" casts a warm light from the house that is reflected outside as well...so the two lights, inside and outside, are unified both by color and their implied meaning.
Bright House by Victoria Taylor-Gore
"Bright House" seems brighter because of the dark cool blue wall inside, and also because of the darkened wall and stairway with the dark violet shadow across from them. The landscape beyond is condensed and intensified by the small opening between the buildings.
Dark House by Victoria Taylor-Gore
"Dark House" radiates both cool and warm lights from its interior, and picks up the intense warm and cool contrasts of twilight. The house is simple and straight in its stark geometry, which contrasts to the soft round forms of the landscape beyond.
Twilight Temple by Victoria Taylor-Gore
"Twilight Temple" seems to be made up of the warm earth colors of the land. It's form suggests a temple, or a sacred space, without being specific, so there is room for all! I love twilight because it represents the space between two worlds - the day (or our conscious life) and the night (our dreams).
New Black and White Pastel
Passages 6 by Victoria Taylor-Gore I just did another pastel in the "Passages" series, and will post another one that I am working on soon. I still love combining the black and white pastel with a little bit of color that brings more emphasis to certain symbols like the boat, sky, water and the chair, and the quality of light itself. These new pieces in the "Passages" series are smaller and more intimate that the large ones that I did last summer. Other pastel artists are also using the black and white and color combination in their work...check out Riva Sweetrocket's work.
07/05/2007
A New Pastel...The Long Room
The Long Room by Victoria Taylor-Gore "The Long Room" is a new pastel I just finished. I have been doing this widescreen format for about two years now, but with landscape and exterior themes, not interiors. I love widescreen movies, widescreen monitors, widescreen TVs...it's the expansive feeling and wide range of movement that draws me in. This type of composition is a bit more challenging with interiors - I had to work with the design until I got it to balance out. I am moving away from complicating these rooms as I have done in previous interiors. I want these expansive rooms to have the simple geometry of my widescreen exteriors and landscapes. Check back soon for more new interiors like this.
07/02/2007
Power of Art
Guernica by Pablo Picasso PBS is currently showing a great series called "Simon Schama's Power of Art." Look at your local listing for the show times. The program features the work of Van Gogh, Picasso, Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, and Rothko. Schama is my kind of art historian...making the lives of each artist come alive with emotion and personal insight as well placing the artists in the historical context of their time. I already got the DVD set, and also plan to get the book. Here is more information on the series, and here is a great website about the series.
