Meet Taylor Wells

 

We were lucky to catch up with Taylor Wells recently and have shared our conversation below.

Taylor, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

For me, it’s all about stepping away from something temporarily. I’m the type of person that has a constant need to create. Whether it’s animation, music or anything else that inspires me, I will follow that inspiration as far as it takes me. That might sound like a positive thing but it’s easy for me to burn myself out. The trick is to know when to step away from something and let it breathe. For me, this was a skill I had to develop just like any other and I always find that a short time away from a project gives me new perspective, different ideas and solutions to problems I ran into.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m known as Taymations, a self-taught Stop-Motion animator and YouTube Creator from Chicago. I’ve been animating for 5 years, crafting viral animated videos, tutorials and commissions for brands like Coca-Cola, Squanch Games and Dilly’s World to name a few. I’ve built a small community of “Taytors” around my work and am passionate about teaching and spreading the art of Strata-Cut animation.

Strata-Cut is when you build time-flow of shapes into the geometry of a clay loaf. You then take thin slices from the loaf and snap pictures to reveal an animation. It’s an obscure niche within the Stop-Motion art form that I’ve become completely obsessed with and there are probably no more than 20 of us in the world. It’s become my mission to do my part in keeping this art form alive and thriving, which is why I’ve created a series of tutorials on YouTube to give others an easy jumping in point. In the age of AI and cheaply made, mass produced art it’s crucial that we keep creating real, tangible works and sharing them with the world.

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?

For me, the most valuable skills have been patience, curiosity and trust in the process. Patience did not come naturally to me, it was literally built up by creating Stop-Motion animations. Curiosity is the only reason I was able to get to the point of being patient and trust in the process lets me see projects through, even if they don’t feel right in the beginning.

You have to not look at your projects as destinations to a final piece but journeys that can take unpredictable turns, ending somewhere you may not have expected. Loving the process is critical, especially in Stop-Motion which is notoriously tedious. Choose something that feels rewarding, be present, patient and curious and you will succeed.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

Right now I’m trying to figure out how to consistently post on Social Media, create YouTube videos and make commissions while working my full time day job. If anyone cracks that code let me know!

But in all seriousness, I’ve been looking for areas to become more efficient in. The latest big leap I made was moving into a new space that has enough room for specialized work areas. Before, I was building, sculpting and animating on the same table. That means after any one process was done, I had to clean everything up before I could move onto the next part of a project. Now I can have several processes and even projects happening at the same time which saves me so much time. It’s still a huge challenge to make consistent content but that may just be the nature of Stop-Motion.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Leadership Development
Where does your self-discipline come from?

One of the most essential skills for unlocking our potential is self-discipline. We asked some

Productivity
Tactics & Strategies for Keeping Your Creativity Strong

With the rapid improvements in AI, it’s more important than ever to keep your creativity

Productivity
Working hard in 2025: Keeping Work Ethic Alive

While the media might often make it seem like hard work is dead and that