CREATIVE MINDS – Bret Taylor
Posted by Franziska San Pedro on Sep 1, 2011 in Blog, Creative Minds | 22 commentsIt’s September, and with a new month, a new creative favorite interview. This month it’s Bret Taylor answering my questions -an amazing artist that I have met on Twitter. He’s a hard-working, dedicated and passionate man with a great sense of humor and love for life. Please read on, leave a comment, check out his sites and get one (or more) of his stunning artworks!
About Bret:
• Born in Springdale, Newfoundland.
• First experience that convinced me to be an artist: my mom would give me a pen and paper to keep me from misbehaving in church. After the service, family and friends would be waiting outside to see what I drew. I felt like a rockstar.
• Grew up wanting to be a comicbook artist. Most of my strongest influences still come from that field – in particular, Bill Sienkiewicz and Dave McKean.
• 1990: Studied graphic design in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. That led to a still-ongoing career in print and advertising.
• 2001: Finally decided to get serious about art. Never looked back.
What would you like to share about yourself?
Art is my whole life. I’ve been drawing and painting as long as I can remember. Looking back on my life, the brief times when I wasn’t creating were some of the darkest. Obviously there’s a lesson to be learned there.
Since January 1st, 2010 I’ve been creating every day. I’m shooting for a thousand consecutive days – officially known as the One Thousand Days Project. As I write this it’s day 611. The benefits have been enormous so far.
What is your favorite color and why?
Don’t know that I have one. I’ve got a few favourite colour combinations, though – orange and blue, for instance. Or green and gold. Or red and black. I try as much as I can to break out of any kind of repetitive behaviour when I’m painting, though. Stagnation is the enemy of creativity.
What’s your most seductive food (and drink)?
Depends on who’s being seduced, I guess. If it’s me – BBQ ribs and a nice bourbon. Maybe Pappy Van Winkle, though I’d gladly settle for Bulleit. Oh, and key lime pie.
And bacon. Can’t forget the bacon.
Describe your dream place and where would it be?
Probably as close to salt water as possible. Open plan, with high ceilings, big windows, lots of brick, stone and exposed beams, antiqued wood, copper accents. Huge separate area for a studio. Good airflow (salt breezes right through the house), plenty of natural light for painting. Enough bathrooms. Big kitchen, with a brick pizza oven. Pub in the basement (preferably soundproofed).
The one thing you can’t live without?
Artwise, non-photo blue pencils. Otherwise, the bar in my livingroom.
What ignites your fire?
More than anything, it’s music. My tastes are all over the map, and I’m constantly trading recommendations with a handful of friends from all over the world. New music all the time, day in and day out.
Beyond that, my first rule of creativity is: feed your head. I try to stuff my brain with as much inspiration as possible. If there’s a key word to this process, it’s “more”.
And hockey, of course.
What’s the silliest thing you’ve ever done?
Hard to say, really. Sometimes there’s a fine line between silly and dumb, and it’s usually only defined by the outcome. If you do something and get away with it, it’s silly. If you end up in jail or a ditch, it’s dumb.
What’s your greatest advice that the world should know about?
My advice: PAY ATTENTION.
Why are you the best in your area of expertise?
Because I’m more than the sum of my influences: comics, rock ‘n’ roll, graphic design, hot rods, whiskey and science fiction.
Where can we find you online?
Facebook
Blog Howyadoin Graphics
Twitter
YouTube
Flickr
RedBubble
Tumblr
Imagekind
Please check out Bret’s artwork, his blog and social media sites and don’t forget to leave a comment!
he’s fun!
jennifer ressmann recently posted..Showing Off!
Agree!
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..CREATIVE MINDS: Bret Taylor
What a wonderful interview Franziska… I love the questions you asked him, you kept it fun too.
My uncle was a commercial artist and my brother can really draw. Me, not so much. Oh sure, I drew a really great apple in elementary school but nothing since. Guess I didn’t get that gene darn it.
Enjoyed the interview, great job!
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Hi Adrienne,
you are so funny! I would love to see that apple painting. You could make a lot of money with that one day because it’s very rare. I hear the auctioneer say as he sells it: “starting at $50,000, Apple Still Life. The only one real Smith on the art market!” And then you’d hear the price go up…
I would buy it, lol!
Bret is quite a unique and creative character, loved having him on my blog. Very special! Glad you like the interview,
Franziska
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..CREATIVE MINDS: Bret Taylor
You are a natural interviewer Franziska! Love the questions and great condensed answers. Bret is quite a character and artist! I think he’s right about stagnation being the death of art — or creativity. We have to continue to feed our intellect, soul and natural spirit to create (at least that’s what I believe). And I love his description of his perfect house — I’m right there with him!
Good job, F!
xxxooo
Heidi & Atticus
http://www.atticusuncensored.com
“commentary to give you paws…”
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Thanks my love bugs
Bret is a great character, the perfect house is how mine would look and feel like, too. Let’s all move in!
Hugs,
Franz
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..How The Internet Can Change Your Life
Fascinating interview! I’m impressed by the challenge and have no doubt that Bret will succeed! Now I’m hungry for bacon though….
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You’re too funny!!! Nice you liked Bret and his interview, thanks for dropping a note,
Franz
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..How The Internet Can Change Your Life
Franziska, aloha. What a delight it is discovering your blog. Thanks so much for connecting with me on mine which led me to yours. My guess is that Adrienne is our mutual connection as I am a frequent commenter on her blog.
Absolutely loved this interview with Bret and look forward to sharing it with others.
Your questions were great, Franziska, because it gave a chance for Bret, the person, to come through in his replies.
Bret, I felt so good reading what you had to say; I could literally feel your passion, your joy for what you do. This statement of yours is my favorite:
“Beyond that, my first rule of creativity is: feed your head. I try to stuff my brain with as much inspiration as possible. If there’s a key word to this process, it’s ‘more’.”
Like you, Bret, I believe the more we put into ourselves, the more can come out of us as we turn that input into our self expression.
Off to visit you blog. So nice meeting the two of you. Look forward to seeing you again soon. Until next time, aloha. Janet
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Hi janet,
such a pleasure to have you check out my blog! Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. Love our new connection.
Bret is such a talented artist and I love the way he sees life and how he uses inspiration. We can learn so much from other artists (from anyone in fact). Having him on my blog this month has been a great pleasure.
A fabulous week to you and much inspiration to stuff your brain!
Franziska
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..CREATIVE MINDS: Bret Taylor
Janet Callaway rounded us up at the Rockstar club and asked us to come see the cool things you are doing, Franziska.
I enjoyed your interview and profile on Brett. It’s good to see the spotlight on an artist. Artists rarely get enough attention.
I like the car. It looks to me like a Dodge charger. But I’m not sure. If it is, that would be an awesome update to the model.
Bret should share that with Dodge – they seem to be uninspired for a very long time.
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Hi Stan,
thank you so much for checking out my blog
Yes, we artists need to stick together and I love promoting other artists, such a great source of inspiration! So nice of Janet to share this post-so what’s the rockstar club?
Will forward your comment to Bret; I don’t know what car it is, could be a Camaro, what do you think? Either way, it looks great!
Thanks for coming by and I see you again,
Franziska
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..CREATIVE MINDS: Bret Taylor
The rockstar club is my reference to the tribal chat in the Rockstar tribe – one of the many micro-communities for bloggers in Triberr. We share each other’s inspiration and content through our Twitter feeds. If you’re interested in learning more, reach out to me on Twitter: @Faryna.
Stan Faryna recently posted..Do not be afraid. And other social media DOHs.
Very cool, thanks Stan! Just followed you on Twitter, heading over to your blog now and will check out the rockstar tribe as soon as I get a chance! Bret just left a comment below, it’s a 69 Z28 Camaro,
Franziska
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..How The Internet Can Change Your Life
Love your artist interviews, Franziska! So great that you are finding awesomely talented people + giving them a great platform to share their story!
Hi Brandi,
thanks so much. To be honest, interviewing a fabulous artist is a selfish act of altruism (because they inspire me, hahaha!!). No seriously, it’s nice to connect with fellow artists and help out dear friends to get some exposure. I mean that’s what you do, too. Love your concept! Maybe we can do an interview towards the end of the year -I love your artwork!?
Glad you liked it and thanks for leaving a comment
Franziska
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..How The Internet Can Change Your Life
Wow, thanks for all the comments, folks. And Stan, that’s a ’69 Z28 Camaro, albeit a heavily-modified one. Not a single stock body panel on it.
Awesome Bret, glad you got a great response
It’s been a pleasure having you here!
Btw, we’ll be moving into your neighborhood next year (Seattle area..)
Cheers,
Franz
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..How The Internet Can Change Your Life
I’ve known Bret as a fellow artist online for almost ten years… he is one of the most inspiring artists out there, and his dedication is amazing. Thanks for this interview, because of your questions, I actually got to learn more about him here, which is pretty awesome.
-Jaye
Hi Jaye,
oh wow, amazing that you have known him for such a long time and really cool that you learned something new about him. I guess I picked the right person for this month’s interview – I learned a ton of great new stuff too and some awesome perspectives about life.
Thanks for coming by and leaving a comment
Franziska
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..How The Internet Can Change Your Life
Off to visit you blog. A fabulous week to you and much inspiration to stuff your brain!
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What a wonderful interview Franziska… I love the questions you asked him, you kept it fun too. Franziska, aloha. Until next time, aloha.
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