Interview with Shaz Taylor
Pretty Girls Making Cool Shit: Welcome! Would you like to introduce yourself?
Shaz Taylor: Yes, my name is Shaz Taylor and I am the only visual artist that paints assets by providing my collector with opportunities to build generational wealth for themselves and communities in which they care most about.
PGMCS: Have you always been artistic/creative?
ST: Oh yes, I was born this way. Any time I would try to avoid it I was miserable.
PGMCS: You are known for your portraits of beautiful, strong women. What initially inspired you to paint portraits? Have portraits always been your specialty?
ST: When I was a kid and my parents divorced I was forced to leave my all Black school and I was placed in a school where no one looked like me. I experienced racism, colorism, and tokenism for the first time. The absence of my culture left me feeling lost and before I knew it I was what some would consider “white washed”. Home was a safe space for me, my mother collected these beautiful sculptures by Thomas Blacksheer and African artist of all kinds. When I saw the art in my home, I began to draw the sculptures as a way to connect back to my culture and it brought me great joy and pride. I would say portraits have always been my specialty, because representation is what I lacked most of my life and it was important for me to represent people of color especially Black people in a light of positivity, beauty and empowerment inspiring them by representing them in the form of phenomenal fine art.
PGMCS: Can you tell us a bit about your Painted Assets service? How does it work and how did you develop the resale platform?
ST: Absolutely, Painted Assets™ is a service that I offer exclusively for my collectors. I had a revelation when it came to me. I am not a religious person but I am a spiritual person and everything I needed to know, my purpose in life, was always obvious to me but I didn’t know how to make a huge impact. The map was in Genesis Chapter 1 of the Bible. I had an Ah ha moment and then I had the road map, the idea of how to give back to my community with my God given talent. I don’t use galleries, because they take 50% from the artist. It reminds me of modern day slavery, oppression, and redlining . I figured if I was going to give 50% to anyone it was going to be to the people who supported me first. As I grow in wealth, so will my collector. Giving back to those who have to me is really important to me and there is more than enough to spread the wealth in my option. I do that with my services Painted Assets™.
When they collect my artwork, and lets say a couple years later they fall in love with another piece I created but they don’t have room for the new work. I will offer to resale the original artwork they purchased to another buyer and I will split the profits with them. They may put those funds towards new artwork or they may use them how they would like. This is why I say I paint assets, my method ensures that my art will always be in a home that desires it and my collectors will be able to build wealth over time.
PGMCS: How do you balance your time in the studio and time with family and friends? Do you have any time management tips for other artists with a family or day job who may be struggling with finding a time for both?
ST: I use to run around saying “ I don’t have any friends lol” There was some truth to the joke as a new mother that moved from my home town making friends as an adult is not always easy. Now do a virtual brunch once a month with my closest friends who live out of state. I have monthly spa dates with my cousin who is local. Family comes first and other than my mother and father, my husband and children are my ultimate priority. They get most of my time and attention over art. I get in the studio when I can, sometimes I sacrifice and will go to bed early at 7pm and get up at 2am so I can paint until 6 am. I am not in the studio as much as people think I am, I have my priorities straight. There are only a few things that are important to me and that is my spirituality and peace, my family and friends, my artwork and building relationships with those who collect my artwork. Everything else is just noise. Anyone struggling with time management just needs to get their priorities straight and simple, when you do that, everything else will fall in place naturally and organically.
PGMCS:Can you tell us about any new projects?
ST: Nope. Naw, just kidding. I am working on creating a new series I am calling WALL CANDY. Bringing vibrant joy to your home, all I can say is that it’s going to be sweet! I will always be continuing series I started in the past as they are never really completed.
PGMCS: What is the best thing about being an artist?
ST: The best thing about being an artist is that I get to be the architect of my reality, anything that I want to create, I create when I want to on my own time. I am blessed to be able to bring joy to people's lives and environments by giving them something that inspires them. When I express my joy through art, that energy is then transferred through my artwork upon those who view it. I’m collecting smiles, taking breath away, happy tears, and anyone who has an opportunity to own an original or print, will have that pure joy with them for generations to come. I give them peace, power and pride. That’s the best thing about being an artist.
PGMCS: What is the worst thing about being an artist?
ST: The worst thing about being an artist is the mental jumping jacks I have to constantly do to believe in myself in a society that continually perpetuates a negative mindset with phrases such as starving artists. Which is a total myth popularized by a poem in the 1800s glorifying poverty. The redlining and click-ish mentality of galleries, and the exclusion of private spaces unless you stroke the right egos or pay top dollar to access. As far as I am concerned, real artists never starve when you follow your spirit, hire a mentor and accept patrons. When you follow your own spirit (your gut intuition) you will never go without. Your cup will be filled with success, joy, happiness, wealth and good health in abundance. When I learned that, and truly began to believe that, I felt there was never a need to have to worry ever again. As long as I am fulfilling my purpose of why I am on this earth. Everything will be taken care of before I even ask. Most artists don’t know this logic and have no idea they are more capable than their wildest dreams, and that makes me sad.
PGMCS: Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?
ST: Meditate. When you go within, you will never go without. Everything you need will be revealed to you. Hire a mentor and invest in yourself. Don’t be afraid to fail as it’s a necessary step on the entrepreneurial road to success. The journey is long and there is no point in doing it alone without a tour guide. Cultivate your network and utilize all opportunities that speak to your purpose. Don’t try, just do.
