We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chris Tait a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Chris, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I found my purpose as a young child but did not understand it. Visual Art was immediately natural and fulfilling and the feedback felt good. As I grew, I took more and more classes both in and out of public school, with the intent of attending Art School. I took on extra visual arts courses in high school in order to accumulate enough credit to graduate 6 months early. Visual Art really was my thing. However, I became disillusioned with the Art World by the time I finished high school, and found myself playing music, My own music project Tayt Modern and A Folk/Country/Rock band called Bargain Shoppers Club. Bargain Shoppers Club has a new record out on youtube instead, touring and moving to London England and having some real adventures, but struggling with alcohol and eventually getting help. I was asked to find a Higher Power, but I was an atheist and this was a tall order. But I was determined to get well and I saw friends getting better, so I became open to it. I attended Buddhist meditation retreats, Transcendental meditation workshops, worked in homeless shelters and detox, and much, much more. I stayed sober but hit another emotional bottom, and after nearly 20 years I picked up the paint brush again. This time my intuitive conscience spoke louder and had more wisdom and authority than it ever had in the passed. It said “Yes. This is where you belong. This is where you’ve always belonged. Trust me. You’ve got this. This is your purpose.” And I gasped. This was THE Higher Power for me. It was more than an intuitive conscience. I have been living according to this guidance ever since this time in 2012.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
What I do is I tap into intuition, whether it is my own odd interests in subject matter or a commissioned piece, the work always involves meditation while the brush is both active and inactive. This makes all my work something I can stand behind. It makes me well. Taytmodern.com has been recently updated to include prints, thanks to Jane Friedman. I have started working with Michelle Oppenheimer on getting work published as prints in the decor world. I recently created a video for Abel Collective’s cover Am I Demon as seen on youtube.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The first is retaining the conviction of specific talent. My example being that visual art has always been natural and challenges are always accomplished. However, music being somewhat natural, requires much more effort for me. My deep intuition KNOWS that I can paint anything I want, but I’ll never play guitar like Jimi Hendrix. My point is that I ought to have played music because I enjoy it and can even do it at a professional level, but dropping Visual Art for nearly 20 years was nuts. It is the one talent that I cannot deny is my strongest.
The second is discipline. Find routine in your practice. I still have a “day job” in mental health care, but it is only three twelve hour shifts a week and this affords me a lot of time to work creatively. I have a mindset that I have developed that tells me I am wasting my time and my life if I don’t work at it for many hours every week. It just has to be done. Don’t wait for inspiration; if you have a vague idea about a subject – dive into it and be open to what you’ll discover.
The third is to embrace belief and avoid cynicism. A perfect example in my experience is walking into a gallery with my friend and fellow painter Jason York but being struck with a feeling of insecurity, a type of cynicism that I was unlucky in these cold call situations. I wanted to leave. However, Jason was casual and confident and started a good conversation with the curator about the work hanging in the gallery. They spoke about his work, and then they started looking at my work, and then I had two paintings hanging in the gallery. I was floored. If I had been alone, I would have walked out of that gallery without speaking with the curator. How many opportunities have I walked out of in my life? Belief. Avoid cynicism. Suit up and show up. Fake it until you make it.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I think it is a combination. I am all in on paint. Music is very important to me and I currently play in a few bands including Bargain Shoppers Club. But Paint is my number one. If I stay away from music, I suffer. The music community has given me opportunities to create projections and psychedelic liquid light shows, and filming music videos etc.. I’ve had commissions for artwork from the music world. When I work on a painting for a few hours and take a break, I can easily waste time looking at social media or go into my little recording studio and work out a vocal harmony or a better guitar part. Having multiple creative outlets is more enriching for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: taytmodern
- Instagram: taytmodern
- Facebook: Tayt Chris
- Youtube:Bargain Shoppers Club
- Other: Spotify: Bargain Shoppers Club
Image Credits
Headshot photograph by Biliana Panic
