Southside artist paints to showcase God’s creation

<p>The simple scene bursts forth with depth in Elise Taylor’s “Spring’s Sweet Surprise.”</p><p>In the southside artist’s watercolor painting, a galvanized bucket is surrounded by small pouring vessels called cruets, half filled with golden-brown liquid. Maple syrup taps are scattered around the items. The still life speaks to a joyous, active time period in Taylor’s native home in the Northeast U.S., and something about the way the outdoor light hit the assembled items in the darkened shack blindsided her.</p><p>“Just the way the light hit coming through the window, it caught my eye,” she said. “Barns, old buildings, just the way the light hits scraggly trees. Those things get to me.”</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>Using watercolor paint and a well-trained eye for the sublime, Taylor captures scenes of beauty in unexpected places. She has found joy in uncovering hidden wonders, from the barns of New England to the farmland of central Indiana to still-lifes of the underappreciated glory of mundane everyday objects.</p><p>Taylor’s work will be on display through March 27 at the Southside Art League gallery. But while her talent is evident, she deflects praise, instead considering her role as an artist as a vessel in showcasing the world around her.</p><p>“I’m a solid Christian, and it’s a gift from God,” she said. “I didn’t create this; I’m putting on paper what God has already created. I’m like a human camera.”</p><p>Taylor’s quest to become an artist was always supported by her mother, who had a talent for drawing and worked as a photo-colorizer adding hues to black-and-white pictures. As a child, Taylor loved to color fantastical pictures, then learned to oil paint from a neighbor in her Massachusetts neighborhood.</p><p>Her career aspirations did not include art, as she was more interested in biology and science. Attending Fitchburg State College, she earned a bachelor’s degree in education. Eventually, she became a mail carrier in Indianapolis.</p><p>Still, art never left Taylor. In the late ‘80s, she turned to painting again, discovering the Southside Art League and signing up for classes. Though she had previously taken lessons in oil paint, this time around she opted for watercolor classes.</p><p>“It was a bit of a challenge making the transition, especially seeing as that I hadn’t done much art in 20 years. But I fell in love with it,” she said.</p><p>Watercolor paint, with its transparent colors and quick-drying nature, allowed Taylor to work as quickly as her imagination could come up with images.</p><p>With her upbringing in the Northeast portion of the U.S., and then moving to central Indiana, the land that surrounded her played a big part in her artwork. Mountains, seascapes and farmland scenes color her memories around Massachusetts, while rural scenery has dominated her attention since moving to Indiana.</p><p>A worn-down barn pokes through the snow in Brown County. A well-worn tractor sits unused after a long harvest season. From a trip to Iowa, a colorful rural inn decorated for the holidays offers a warm counter to the cold scene outside.</p><p>“Even though I was brought up in an industrial town in north-central Massachusetts, I like the country stuff,” she said. “I take my vacations through the eye of a camera, always thinking of photo references I can use for a painting.”</p><p>Her travels, throughout the U.S. to Alaska and Hawaii to as far away as New Zealand and Russia, serve as inspiration for paintings down the line.</p><p>Paintings such as “Winter in Finland,” “Reef Life” and “Stairway in Provence” showcase some of the more incredible and picturesque locales that she’s encountered throughout her life.</p><p>“It’s whatever captures my attention. If I like I, I paint it,” she said.</p><p>Taylor is a member and board member of the Southside Art League, as well as belonging to the Brown County Art Gallery, the Brown County Art Guild and the Watercolor Society of Indiana.</p><p>She has won numerous awards and ribbons for her work, including reserve grand champion at the Marion County Fair, sweepstakes award winner at the Indiana State Fair and Best of Show at the Brown County Art Gallery.</p><p>But she has stopped worrying about judging or competition when she paints. Rather, she wants her work to be a portal for others.</p><p>“I hope people appreciate some of God’s creation, some of man’s creation. Whatever I enjoy, I hope I can impart a little bit of that on them,” she said.</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="At a glance" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p><strong>Elise Taylor exhibition</strong></p><p>What: A collection of watercolor paintings created by Taylor, a southside Indianapolis artist</p><p>Where: Southside Art Leauge Off Broadway Gallery, 299 E. Broadway St., Greenwood</p><p>When: Through March 27</p><p>Gallery hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday; closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday</p><p>Information: southsideartleague.org</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]