Cydney Taylor

Since the Millenium change I'd say that the march of studios that I have known is a metaphor for a bio.

The Taos Studio is my home base - a good studio set in the mountains and light and citizenry of Northern New Mexico. My big press is here and our home which accomodates studio overflow, the inventory, friends, inspiration, and peace. I'm here for about eight months of the year. We added another 400 sq. ft. to the studio in 2008, which is a well-lit painting area, leaving the original space for printing.

The Red Studio was the early 2009 workplace. It is now for sale as we attempt to pare down our Baja scene by moving to the cochera. That is a beautiful little Taketch press in the photo. On the walls are monotypes and mixed media paintings.

The 'Brock1' Studio. Our building projects have somehow become known as Brock I through Brock VI. This was the first, maybe the best studio, built in 2003. Our friends Barbara McCauley and Alvaro Cardona-Hine have used it as a studio for three winters. I've spent some memorable days painting here with them - great music, Alvaros's poetry, bulldogs, wine and conversation.

In the summer of 2000 I painted with Alvaro Cardona-Hine in Truchas, New Mexico. This led me to rent the Capilla, an old adobe church, as an open studio/gallery. That was a fine experience, so we bought and renovated what became known as The Cydney Taylor Gallery in Truchas. I painted in and operated this studio/gallery for 3 years, after which I moved back to Taos, where we now live and work (except when we're in Baja, of course... or, this winter, in Sacramento.)

The Capilla Studio/Gallery

In 1999 we bought a fixer-upper in Taos, New Mexico, and a couple of years later built a solar-heated studio. Soon after I moved most of my operation to Truchas, and we sold this wonderful place to finance our Mexican ventures.

The cochera studio is now our domestic headquarters in Baja. I used it as a studio in 2008 while we finished building and selling the domed house. We have since built a new studio/office/bedroom next to it.

Over the winter of 2009-2010 we built a studio/office/bedroom right beside the cochera with a connecting patio, converted the cochera back into our living space, and in the winter of 2010 we moved into it. Below is our granddaughter, Morgan, just starting to walk before Christmas. In that photo the current Baja studio is on the right, bedroom on the left, and office above (with a whale-viewing palapa on the very top!)