Taylor Luecke- As She Goes

Karen Graham

Taylor Ray Luecke is planning something big. In the new year, she is going on a major adventure, heading to Vancouver Island to do some exploring- the outdoor, physical kind as well as the internal, find-yourself kind. She is excited and can hardly wait to leave, but there are misgivings as well. Having completed her high school diploma last spring, she considered leaving in the fall, but then stuff happened, and now it’s so close to Christmas that she has decided to wait until January to take off to enjoy the holidays at home with family.

Taylor with her mixed media piece at last month’s Millwork art sale. Photo: Maureen McDonald.

Taylor with her mixed media piece at last month’s Millwork art sale. Photo: Maureen McDonald.

It’s not like she is truly anxious to leave town- she loves Millbrook and her actions show it. She has grown up hiking the trails and splashing in the pond, and last week we reported how she was moved to apply her substantial creativity to help preserve the Mill. Next week Taylor will face another first as she launches a solo show at the Pastry Peddler on Sunday November 15th, entitled “As I Go”. The show will include a variety of original pieces, including a variety of “flat pieces” created with mixed media, a sculpture, and her favourite piece- a painted chair. She will also design the window display presented in the bakeshop for the last two weeks of the month. The opportunity for this show began with an invitation by Raechelle Kennedy, an artist who works at the bakeshop. Taylor describes Racechelle as her “woman behind the curtain” for her upcoming show. In the early planning stages of the exhibit, Raechelle had mentioned Millworks Art Sale with great enthusiasm, which resulted in Taylor donating the piece in the photo below.

Taylor is excited to launch her first solo exhibition of her art at Pastry Peddler beginning this Sunday. Photo: Karen Graham.

Taylor is excited to launch her first solo exhibition of her art at Pastry Peddler beginning this Sunday. Photo: Karen Graham.

Taylor will include over a dozen pieces in this upcoming exhibition. Some of these pieces, including the chair, were developed in some of her high school art classes at Crestwood, but most of her work has been created in the enclosed front porch of her parents front home or in the space above their garage, which she refers to as her “bird’s nest”. During her creative process, she is often juggling multiple projects at once, which are splayed across her workspace. She appreciates the full-fledged freedom her parents have provided, which created a stark contrast to some of the environments she found in several “creative” courses at school. She agrees that eventually she may return to a more structured environment to further hone her technical skills, but for now she is enjoying the opportunity to explore her craft on her own.

There is an opening reception at the launch of the show from 1-3pm on Sunday, November 15th, To add to the festivities, Robert Reid will provide background music on his accordion. Make sure to check out this exhibit before it, like Taylor, leaves town!

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