June 28th, 2020: After a pencil sketch, I painted the 16x20" canvas panel above after finding an old box of acrylic craft paint while sorting through stuff in the rafters.

The little bottles of acrylic paint were cheap and chalky and, the painting ended up looking somewhat dull because of it, but the spontaneous creative moment truly made me grin. With the unknowns of the pandemic at the time, I welcomed all of the grins I could get.

I've wondered since then if this act of painting would have happened without the pandemic situation. I may not have done it - at least, not at that time. There wasn't any pressing reason for me to go through old boxes of things stored in the rafters. 

I truly needed to keep busy and distract myself at the time. Sorting and cleaning was something I could control while the world was seemingly out of control. Discovering painting and experimenting with it going forward kept me busy and focused on something new. 

Nevertheless, it all feels like synchronicity. It's funny how things happen at times.

- Shelly

​I am happy to announce that my art has been selected for inclusion in the 2022 "HerStory" Exhibition by Manhattan Arts International. The piece that is included in the online exhibit is, "YOU SHOULD KNOW HARRIET QUIMBY," a 24x36" mixed media piece you can see here, along with the story behind the piece. The HerStory Art exhibit runs from January 31st, 2022 to March 31st, 2022 and can be seen here. My artwork was also selected for inclusion in the YouTube video that is shown above. I am humbled to be included in the exhibition with this remarkable group of women artists!

Renee Phillips is the Curator and Founder/Director of Manhattan Arts International. I discovered her while searching for some perspective on a previous post I wrote here, Price Transparency in the Art World. I wrote her website down in my notebook to return later. Renee is an advocate for artists and has many interesting articles and interviews on her site for free. She has authored some affordable e-books for artists and, she also offers writing and consultation services. Renee is known as the artrepreneur coach - helping artists achieve their fullest potential. Once you visit her site, you can see how knowledgeable and passionate she is about her work - check her website out.

Renee's site resonated with me when I noticed the call there for women artists for the  "HerStory" Art Exhibit. The reason it struck a chord with me was because, when I was a Junior in High School, I took a "Women's Studies" class that was taught by Ms. Sarah Littlejohn. I specifically remembered that Ms. Littlejohn was the first person I ever heard use the term, "HerStory" after explaining that our collective History was predominately "His Story" which often excluded or minimized the contributions of women (as well as people of color). I felt quite shocked about that at the time. I was mortified to learn that women didn't get the right to vote until 1920 and that black women were banned until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The realizations made me feel sick.

Of course, Ms. Littlejohn only had so much time to teach the class about women's history and the fight for equality, but the awareness of the subject led me to dig a bit on my own, as well as my getting a subscription to Ms. Magazine around 1976. I remember feeling back then that the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) would surely pass because (in my young mind) there wasn't a valid reason why women didn't have equal rights already. Gloria Steinam and many other feminists spoke to me and for me on so many levels, I just "knew" it would happen and happen soon. Yet, it never did happen.

Fast forward 45 years later  and we are still not there! January 27th, 2022 marked two years since Virginia, the last state needed to reach the 38-state threshold to get an amendment in the Constitution, to ratify the ERA. Despite that fact, we are still fighting. From Ms. Magazine: The Equal Rights Amendment Is Ratified - Now What?

For the most current state of affairs, see the ERA wikipedia page.

ABOVE: Here I am starting a new painting. Due to the composition, this is the first 24x36” panel I am painting in landscape mode. On the larger panels, I prefer to paint them hanging flat on the wall and standing while I paint. Working from historical black and white photographs, I’m laying out the piece in sepia tones before adding color. Photographs taken over 100 years ago are generally not the best quality and are often subject to artistic interpretation.


The piece I'm starting above will honor the procession organized by the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) held in Washington DC that was led by Inez Milholland (on horseback) on March 3rd, 1913. The womens march took place the day before the presidential inauguration of Woodrow Wilson. They marched on Pennsylvania Avenue, the same route his inaugural parade would travel the following day.

It has been estimated that 5,000 to 10,000 women marched that day for the right to vote. The crowd was estimated at 250,000 along the route.

More to come regarding this historic day once I finish the artwork!

- Shelly Taylor

As the first of four kids, I feel fortunate to have some documentation of my early life recorded in writing by my Mom (unfortunately my siblings don't have this). According to what Mom wrote down in The Book Of Baby Mine, I came into the world weighing 8 pounds 12 oz and was 20" long. The first thing my Mom said after giving birth was, "I'm glad it's over!" The doctor said, "She's close to 9 pounds, so big, so fat with pretty blue eyes."

The booklet my Mom wrote in had me laughing in parts. At 2 months and 2 weeks I apparently went downtown with my parents, Mom wrote, "...never take her downtown again." LOL... not sure what I did but I could guess it involved crying and/or some screaming. Typical baby stuff. Mom was 18 (my Father was 20) when she gave birth to me, so everything was a new experience.

On my first birthday, my Mom made a huge chocolate cake with pink frosting and I didn't seem too thrilled. Well, at least I'm consistent there because I don't enjoy cake all that much to this day. At one, my most valued possession was an old pipe my Dad gave me. One of my favorite pastimes then was looking at a Sears or JC Penney's catalogs trying to decide which toys I was going to buy - proof I've always been a dreamer.

At 7 months old I would "yell & holler" when music came on and get really excited. When there was music on the Television, I would clap my hands and sway. Mom wrote that I liked, "anything with a good beat." To this day - I still love music. If it has a beat, I've got to move.

At 13 months I would turn on the radio and tune in a station (I wanted to but, Mom wouldn't let me play with the phonograph). At 18 months I was completely potty trained and could carry a tune. At 19 months Mom wrote that I talked like a 3 year old. At 20 months, I would pretend I was reading. At 2 years of age I was interested in animals, music, singing, dancing, drawing and coloring in books. At 2-1/2" I could pick up almost any song that I heard on the radio. Overall, I was a happy, curious and imaginative kid, and apparently... one who also liked to  pretend that she was an Indian. Where that came from, nobody knows. Thankfully, I don't recall any of that and haven't continued it.

Mom wrote that I preferred to play with older boys. My cousin Duane was 4 years older than me and could get too rough at times. On the other hand, my older neighbor Scott was afraid of me. Of course, I had to ask but it was far too long ago for my Mom to recall the story behind the sentence.

She did write that once school started, I absolutely loved it and didn't want to talk about anything else. Hardly a surprise to me since I still recognize and fully embrace my love of learning. 

Thanks to my Mom for recording some enlightening trivia from my early years. It seems that I had an early leaning toward living a creative life! 


- Shelly