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Artist Profile: Karin Taylor
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Karin Taylor is a water woman that creates magical theatrical compositions. Here Karin shares how the Ocean has influenced her art and life.
"I was born in the middle of a drought in the outback town of Parkes (which is perhaps why I love the water so much!) and some of my first memories involve drawing, boating, fishing and swimming. Growing up in outback towns as well as along the east coast of Australia, really gave our family a deep appreciation for the coast and the surfing lifestyle. My father was an avid fisherman and Bondi Beach surf lifesaver who surfed in his early years and later taught my brother how to surf.
When we came to live in Kingscliff, a little town on the sea in the North Coast of New South Wales, we were renting a house there and I remember finding this surfboard underneath the verandah. From then on my brother starting surfing. We lived across the road from the beach, so we had this wonderful lifestyle and made the most of every day, beach walks were something we did to chill out. I tried to learn to surf back then with this big pink surfboard that was way too heavy for me to carry, I eventually learned to surf much later on, on a malibu, after my children were born.
I am into body surfing, lazing on the beach enjoying the laid back lifestyle these days. When my brother first started surfing I would spend hours reading his surfing mags and listening to him recount all the waves he got that day, it was fascinating. The ocean became my muse, my great love and my passion and when I began to paint and draw more seriously in 2002, it was only natural that my inspiration would come from observations about the ocean, surfers and characters I’d known, loved and met at the beach and that special feeling of freedom and oneness we all share, in having a common love of the ocean.
There are so many benefits to exploring, relaxing and spending time in our beautiful coastal environment and I try to convey that through my art. One of my favourite escapes is observing life in rockpools, a passion shared by both my father and grandfather and one which they passed on to me. It’s every bit as good as meditating. In my surf and beach paintings I found a way of expressing my passion for the beach, nature, surfing and the lifestyle and people who share that passion of sun and surf and sea.
In later years, we lived in Crescent Head, another beautiful little coastal village and have now settled in Lennox Head, the prettiest spot by the sea where the pandanus covered walks remind me of Hawaii. It is always a very inspiring place for an artist to live. On our walks we see whales and dolphins and all kinds of flora and fauna. My favorites are the little blue wrens and the ospreys. What a wonderful world. Seeing whales and dolphins and all kinds of birds has really influenced my art lately and I love to include them wherever possible.
I get this amazing sense of peace when I am on location walking alongside the whales during their annual migration and dolphins never cease to charm and enchant me. I feel like they are sending us blessings and this is what I want to convey through my paintings, a sense of enchantment from the creatures that dwell in our oceans, so we will love and appreciate them more and more and take good care of our beautiful shared environment."
Words By Karin Taylor
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