Karen Taylor
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karentaylorart.bsky.social
Karen Taylor
@karentaylorart.bsky.social
Toronto-based Scottish scribbler WLTM art lovers. NS, GSOH, geeky. Enjoys music, food & excellent mugs of tea.
www.KarenTaylorArt.com
It's #nationalampersandday today!

The ampersand is my favourite character. You can find this one hanging at Black Canary coffee in Kingston Road.
September 8, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Another piece from my new series: "I can fit in that packaging".

#oversizedpackaging #buycanadian #shoplocal
September 8, 2025 at 4:31 PM
I don't think the box needed to be that big. #oversizedpackaging #onlineshopping
September 8, 2025 at 4:28 PM
It's never too late to submit to one of our art calls.
Our art calls never close.

Here's another photo of light through glass for our 'Through the Looking Glass' call.

See some interesting light through glass? Post it and name check @squirrelkiosk , we repost our favourites.

Ingredients? Some white wine, a pretty glass, and my neighbour's tree.

K❤️
September 5, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Here's the painting of sorrel cells based on the microscope photo I showed you recently.

"Sorrel"
12" diameter
acrylic and graphite on birch panel
magnification x170
stain: orange
August 13, 2025 at 1:58 PM
These sorrel cells have an ethereal look, cells floating in a golden glow.

Using a potato peeler means thicker samples, leading to interesting effects. They can curl instead of lying flat. I could only focus on a few lines of cells at a time, the others blurry from being closer or further away.
August 13, 2025 at 1:56 PM
I'm proud to be taking part in the Dignam Gallery's 4th Annual Uptown Pride show.

My painting will be there alongside work by Charles Pachter, and studio mate @robcroxford.bsky.social

Unfortunately I'll miss this weekend's opening, but I'm looking forward to visiting next week.
June 18, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Wow, what a weekend!

Thanks to everyone who came out to see my new work, and were just as excited about playing with microscopes as I am.

I'm humbled that so many of you chose to take one of my pieces home with you. This is my 19th time at this show, but this never gets old ❤️

#riverdaleartwalk
June 3, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Karen Taylor
Who did this? 😂
May 31, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Celebrating my 19th Riverdale ArtWalk this weekend! I'll be at booth 91 in Jimmie Simpson Park.

If you missed out on playing with microscopes at Doors Open, don't worry, you'll have another chance this weekend.

Riverdale ArtWalk
Jimmie Simpson Park
Saturday May 31, 11-6
Sunday June 1, 10-5
May 30, 2025 at 10:27 PM
I love @robcroxford.bsky.social 's entry for our "Through the Looking Glass" challenge.

Want to join in? Make and post a photo looking through glass and tag @squirrelkiosk.bsky.social
“Through the Looking Glass" - proves you don't need special materials to make art - just imagination!

Materials for this photo:
- my folks wedding photo
- my folks glasses
- my folks favourite liquor!

Now it's your turn - what you can do with a photograph & some glass tag @squirrelkiosk
May 29, 2025 at 1:42 PM
My solo show is part of Doors Open Toronto this weekend! How cool is that?

It's in a beautiful historic building in Yorkville, home to the Dignam & the Ruth Upjohn galleries.

There's a full schedule of fun programming and tours. I'll be there 1-4pm each day with microscopes you can play with.
May 23, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Reposted by Karen Taylor
Now it's your turn (check out our last post)! Show us what you can do with a photograph of some glass, the theme is "Through the Looking Glass".

Tag @squirrelkiosk.bsky.social so we can see what you make.
May 21, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Reposted by Karen Taylor
You don't need special materials to make art, you just need imagination.

The materials for these "Through the Looking Glass" photos are:
- a pretty second-hand glass from a vintage market
- a nice bottle of red wine from Tawse
- an episode of The Graham Norton Show

K❤️
May 21, 2025 at 7:17 PM
These two monotypes are based on microscope slides of leeks from my garden.

You can see them both at my current solo show:

Ruth Upjohn Gallery
Yorkville.
23 Prince Arthur Avenue
May 14 - 27

#monotypes #microscopeart
May 21, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by Karen Taylor
Canada, the UK, and France warned that they will take action if Israel does not stop a renewed military offensive in Gaza and lift aid restrictions. The three countries have given Israel an opportunity to stop.

"We will not hesitate to take action, including targeted sanctions."
May 19, 2025 at 9:01 PM
For my Cultivated series, I had originally planned to create linocut prints. The results looked too heavy.

The microscope slides that I work from are translucent and need a lighter touch. I'd played around with monotypes before but hadn't found a use for them. Now I have!
May 16, 2025 at 3:35 PM
I've been creating monotypes since last summer. For the first time, you can see them in person. They are on exhibition along with paintings from the same series at the Ruth Upjohn Gallery in Yorkville. The gallery is housed in the same historic building as the Dignam Gallery.
May 16, 2025 at 3:32 PM
What’s a monotype? It’s a special, one-off print. No two are the same. Each one is hand-crafted, layer by layer, on a special surface. Then everything is lifted off onto paper.

This one of red chard cells has 5 layers.

#monotype #microscopeart #abstractartist #abstractart #contemporaryart
May 16, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Karen Taylor
We both LOVE coloured lights, we each have a ton of them. In addition to the strings and strings of lights, I made gels with cellophane and glass paints to fit over white lights. -K
May 12, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Reposted by Karen Taylor
The lighting in our installation had to do some pretty heavy lifting.

All good Christmas windows have movement. We did that with continually changing light, which also provided all the colour; we painted with light.
May 11, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Spent today in Yorkville, hanging my solo show!

When I started experimenting with my old microscope, I had no idea it would turn into a new series.

I've shown some of this new work in some exhibitions recently. This is the first time I've seen it all together in one space. I love how it looks.
May 14, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Reposted by Karen Taylor
Just like I promised:
Watch @karentaylorart & me set up our “12 Days of Christmas” installation—at a highly unrealistic speed!😜

In real time, this took several hours, some mild chaos, and a strong commitment to festive drama.

#12DaysOfChristmas #installation
May 2, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Karen Taylor
This installation (aside from giving people something joyful during lockdown life) was to build black & white 3D line drawings and “colour” them with lighting!

Say tuned for a behind-the-scenes video of us putting the whole thing together!

#installation #12daysofchristmas
April 30, 2025 at 2:55 PM