All of his pieces are attention-getters, but when different elements of his style combine – like his use of vibrant colors that pop like stained glass does when light hits it, along with his revered approach to figures who are black – it makes for art that's sometimes transcendent.
When artist Nathan J. Taylor moved to Jersey City, it was during a time when Journal Square was what some might call bleak. But he’d lived in such places before, and he was glad to be there.
Signaling a shift in the area in general that had yet to take hold in Jersey City, landlords in other NYC-adjacent areas wanted Taylor’s work history and for him to jump through other hoops that were difficult for someone just starting out at Essence Magazine.
Taylor’s styles broadly range from varied approaches to canvas paintings to digital work, all of which he was able to hone in his off time as a designer for Essence. He’s also worked for Elle, the NBA, illustrated Iyanla Vanzant’s “Inspirational Card” series for Hay House, and created live paintings with musical artists like Janelle Monae and Kelly Price.
Nathan J. Taylor All of his pieces are attention-getters, but when different elements of his style combine – like his use of vibrant colors that pop like stained glass does when light hits it, along with his revered approach to figures who are black – it makes for art that’s sometimes transcendent.
“The stained glass is definitely an inspiration for that style,” says Taylor. “I’m fascinated with architecture, and I love looking at churches – the way churches are built. And of course stained glass is in that, so a while ago I was thinking that I wanted to take that – the way the light shines through that colored glass; I wanted to take that and reinterpret it for the canvas.”
Taylor says his approach to portraying black figures is rooted in a time when “you didn’t really see a lot of depictions of black beauty, or of black women and men presented in a positive light.
“There were a few, but this was before ‘Black Panther’ and all that,” says Taylor. “I felt at the time the representation was lacking, so I made it my mission – I made mind up to represent black people in a positive way, in a beautiful way, and also represent my own vision of my spirituality …. I am a Christian. I believe in that, but my spirituality is unlimited. I wanted to express that in my art as well – just spiritual truth like love, honor, forgiveness …. Those basic spiritual truths.”
Taylor says live painting, in which artists complete a piece of work as part of a performance that includes musicians, spoken word or a DJ, was something he was hesitant to get into, “… because making art is a very private type of situation …” But when he finally did, he had a lot of fun.
“Mercy Me” acrylic painting on easel at Taylor’s home art studio, showroom, and airbnb room rentals in Journal Square near SPU campus. “People love to see the process, they love seeing a blank canvas going to something beautiful, something finished,” says Taylor. He notes that utilizing his ability to paint fast (very necessary for the live painting medium) makes it “almost a different style from what I would do normally. “Normally) I would take several days to do a painting …” says Taylor “But it’s fun, you get your name out there, and you get paid to do it as well, so it’s good.
Taylor’s coloring book “Holy Spirit Meditations” was recently published and is available at B&N and Amazon. Of all his accomplishments, he is most proud of what he was able to manage in his initial four-year stint at Essence.
“… Essence has a family-like culture,” says Taylor. “Once you’re in that company, you’re often welcomed back. I’ve come back to work for them like four other times, in freelancing, so I’m proud of that. But I’m also proud of, when I was working at Essence I was working 50 hours a week, but I knew that I had my visual art and my painting. I knew that was a passion, something in me that I wanted to do. And I wanted to figure out how to make money and support myself doing my passion.”
Taylor says he didn’t want to work for someone else and forget about his own goals. “…So I committed myself to come home and, no matter how late or tired I was, to do some of my own artwork at least for an hour or two every year. And I did that for years – it was like three years – before I had my first art show. But I took that time to develop my craft, and … not to give up on my dreams, ’cause I had a great job, I could easily have done that. All that work that I did back then was the reason that I am where I am now, not just financially, but where I am as an artist.”
Taylor, who has sublet storefronts NYC-side to use for showings to much success, hopes in addition to trying to make his work as good as it can be and just surviving, that he can find a gallery that really loves and appreciates his work. It’s a challenge he shares with artists of all stripes, as galleries have their own varied approaches to how they interact with artists. See more of Taylor’s work at nathanjalanitaylor.com.