Bold Strokes: The Art & Heart of Taylor Rae Hillestad

What does Boy George, Anthony Edwards and a beloved grandfather have to do with a young artist’s creative journey? Find out in this captivating episode with Taylor Rae Hillestad, a dynamic artist and graphic designer who blends vibrant colors and mixed media to create unforgettable portraits that resonate with both subject and viewer. 

Taylor's journey is a testament to the power of passion and perseverance. From her early days in art class to painting celebrities and athletes, Taylor's work is not just seen—it's felt. Join us as Taylor shares the challenges she's faced, the triumphs she's celebrated, and the invaluable lessons learned along the way. This episode is a colorful exploration of creativity, connection, and the courage to follow your dreams. Don't miss this inspiring conversation!

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Chapters

• 0:06 Bold Strokes With Taylor Hillestead
• 6:18 Building Connections Through Art
• 17:07 Artistic Journey and Charitable Work
• 29:26 Inspiring Artistic Journeys and Wisdom

Transcript

Pat
Fill To Capacity where heart grit and irreverent humor collide. A podcast for people too stubborn to quit and too creative not to make a difference.

Pat
Hi, I am Pat Benincasa and welcome back to Fill To Capacity. Today, Episode # 81, "Bold Strokes: The Art and Heart of Taylor Rae Hillestad. My guest is an artist and graphic designer who infuses every canvas with the vibrant energy of neon light and rhinestones hailing from the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Inspired by her grandpa Ray, Taylor has transformed her passion for the arts into a dynamic career that blends bold colors with bold ideas. 

Now, I met Taylor when I was Artist In Residence teaching at Hill Murray School. She walked into my class, started working, and her work immediately stood out. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design from the Kansas City Art Institute. 

Fast forward, her paintings, a mesmerizing fusion of exaggerated hues and mixed media has captured the attention of celebrities and athletes alike, including Boy George, Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates, Anthony Edwards of the NBA Timberwolves. That's just to name a few. 

Taylor's artistry has also been featured on NBC KARE 11 and ABC 5 Eyewitness News. 

Whether it's painting Minnesota sports icons or creating dazzling portraits of international music legends, Taylor's art isn't just seen, it's felt. Join us as we explore the creative world of an extraordinary artist whose impact spans from New York to the Twin Cities and beyond. Well, welcome Taylor. It's so nice to have you here. Oh

Taylor 
Oh my gosh, thank you so much for having me. And what a, oh, that was so nice of you for such a great intro. Thank you.

Pat
Well, Taylor, the intro's based on the facts of your life. 

Taylor
Oh, that was so sweet of you. 

Pat 
Okay, let's start. So, Taylor, your grandfather Ray was such a pivotal figure in your artistic journey. I'm curious, what were some of the most profound lessons or values he instilled in you that you continue to use this day?

Taylor
Yeah. So my grandpa Ray was a huge inspiration for me. He was a pen and ink artist and he would draw historical buildings in St. Paul and landscapes. He had so much patience with him. But, honestly, I was really inspired that he did it. And whenever I would go visit my grandparents' house, we would just draw all the time on stacks of printing paper. We didn't really have sketchbooks. We would just kind of waste so much paper on like printing paper. We would watch Bob Ross videos together. Uh, I could never get to Bob Ross's level because I was working with watercolor, and I realized he was oil. So, my paintings were terrible then. But it was just being surrounded by so much love and support from my family that really inspired me the most. My parents were really inspiring as well. They both were in finance, but they really pushed me to become an artist, not to follow them exactly. Just do what I wanted, do what I wanna do in life and just follow my dream.

Pat 
Well, I can testify that your folks are amazing, having gotten to know them and what an unusual gift that you had growing up being with an artist, grandfather. I mean, that's awesome, Taylor!

Taylor 
Yeah, he would be really proud of me today. He passed away seven years ago, but he did see kind of where I was going with some of my portraits of musicians and stuff like that.  

Pat 
Oh wonderful. 

Pat 
Taylor, you've had the incredible chance to create portraits for some of the most iconic athletes and celebrities and even meet them in person. I'd love to know what's been the most unforgettable moment or piece of feedback that you've received from one of those athletes or celebrities?

Taylor 
Well, yeah, it kind of started at the end of college, social media was kind of getting more popular, not in a way where you can just like communicate with your friends and stuff, but actually have a public profile and then connect with musicians. You can post something online. And so, one of the first celebrity portraits I did actually was for an album cover contest for John Oates from Hall & Oates. I painted his portrait and posted it on Twitter, kind of when Twitter was getting kind of new. And I didn't expect much. I didn't win the album cover contest, but my painting was in the top three for the design. And it ended up getting noticed by John Oates, and some of his band members. One of his band mates wanted me to do an album cover for him then Eliot Lewis. And it just kind of took off. That's when I realized the power of social media can kind of help me a little bit. You can just post something online and just see where it goes. But ever since then, I just kind of connected with some musicians. And I think what inspired me or what I'm most thankful for is not only connecting with the musicians or athletes, but actually their families. 

Pat 
Taylor, I'm gonna stop you there 'cause that was my next question.  So I'm struck by that the fact that you've painted these people, but you build real connections with some of the families. Yeah. Tell us about that. 

Taylor 
You know, maybe it goes beyond just painting the musician, like goes beyond just maybe like labeled as fan art, where like, oh, cool portrait they posted and that's it, you know, but like their, their families have been following me and, you know, I wanna build my social media platform more. I don't have a crazy amount of followers like some people, but all my followers are genuine supporters. Like they're families of musicians or athletes' families and just some of the athletes' families. And then they, they want portraits themselves, or even some of their, the athletes' agents want portraits of their family. So it kind of just one thing led to another. And yeah, I'm very, very thankful.

Pat 
Your art has been featured in various high-profile settings, including Daryl Hall's Music Club in New York. How does it feel to know that your work is being appreciated by the very people you admire?

Taylor 
I'm just still in awe. Like I could be listening to the radio and hear Hall & Oates and, I just wanna start by saying I'm like the biggest eighties music lover. It's so funny, Like I was born in the nineties, but I love eighties music. That's kind of what inspired me for some of my paintings. But yeah, it just, it's cool that it was featured. Daryl Hall has one of my paintings of one of his late band mates, T-Bone Wolk in his club. And then it's featured on his show and on MTV you can see it in the background. 

Taylor 
And yeah, and when I visited, it's a restaurant and music venue and I visited the restaurant and I never met Darryl Hall. I met John Oates, but some of the waiters we saw it. It's featured above Daryl Hall's table, the painting. And I heard from some of his staff that he wanted it above his shoulder because his friend T-Bone  always was over his shoulder. And just, it was cool that he hung it specifically there because he wanted his friend always by his shoulder. So yeah, it's, I'm just very thankful, kind of connected. My paintings have been able to be respected by musicians I grew up listening to.

Pat 
So, Taylor, every artist journey comes with its own set of challenges. What were some of the biggest obstacles you had to overcome to get where you are today? And how did you find the strength to push through to get to where you are?

Taylor
Well, yeah, it definitely was a long road. I think painting or being an artist has a lot of different phases to it. In the beginning, I really wanted to be a photorealistic painter. I thought the goal was to make something as photorealistic as possible, which can yeah, can totally be a goal and everything like that. And so that was my goal going through in college. But in college, oh my gosh, those professors were tough. I cried a lot in college. I had a moment where I was painting a dress. It was a self-portrait and me wearing a dress and the college professor ripped the paintbrush outta my hand and started painting over my dress and said it was too photorealistic, make it more interesting. And I didn't get it at first. I'm like, but it's, it looks like the photo.

Taylor 
Isn't that the point of this? Or, but they really pushed you to get outta your comfort zone, have a style and stuff. So, it took a while to kind of develop  a style at first, let loose, don't be so stubborn on like, “oh, it has to look like the picture.” They really helped me experiment with colors more. I spent so much money on oil paint in college. It was kind of ridiculous, because they want you to have like five different reds, five different browns. And I'm like, what just isn't one enough? But so they pushed me to work with more color.  And then I also painted a portrait of my friend. She was photorealistic. And then the background, I was horrible at landscapes. I just kind of was blotchy. And one of my professors said, you know, the background's more interesting than her. And I was like, what? But she's perfect. I know. So some of the challenges was just kind of developing a style and just get outta my comfort zone. Just be unique. Experiment with color, paint strokes and everything. 

Pat 
Creating art that resonates with both subject and the viewer is a powerful talent. How do you approach capturing the essence of the athletes and celebrities you paint?

Taylor 
I actually, I kind of pick and choose who I wanna paint for the paintings that I do for myself. You know, they have to be very influential. Like I have to be really inspired  by them, mostly for like the musicians. I might not paint the most popular musicians out there, but I paint those who really inspire me. 

I think the first crazy colorful portrait I've ever done, like really crazy colorful was Peter Gabriel, because he's just like a crazy musician. And I'm like, he doesn't deserve something that's just like normal. Yeah, he actually  inspired me the most at the time. It was like pick some kind of crazy progressive rockers that really inspired me and deserved kind of crazy, colorful portraits. So it kind of started with that. And then I eventually developed into mixed media art that didn't start at first, but later on.

Taylor 
But it actually started as a disadvantage. I couldn't paint clothes, I can't paint clothes and fabric. And so what I did was, I was inspired by Migos, a rap group, M-I-G-O-S and to the Met Gala. They wore these beautiful Versace suits, and it was just full of all these patterns. And I'm like, no way, I am painting those patterns. But I went to Michael's and found like this cool scrapbook paper, and I started using that for some of my paintings. Like maybe I can use this for some of the clothing or, and then I started using for basketballs, I used started using rhinestones. But it started as a disadvantage. Like I didn't really wanna paint these objects 'cause I really just didn't have patience. I'm more focused on faces. And then it just kind of developed into kind of multi mixed media and kind of went off of that.

Pat 
Well, it sounds like your work has really evolved organically so that you don't wanna take the time to do all the, the minutiae for painting fabric. So, you problem-solved creatively. I think it's a great idea. So you get scrapbook pieces. Brilliant. I mean, what a nice way to keep the flow of your work and infuse it with these new materials. That's awesome.

Taylor 
Yeah, it would start off for one painting, but then it ended up being kind of my style now is have one piece of kind of something. I painted Elton John and his famous a Dodger stadium rhinestone outfit and no way I wanna paint the rhinestone. So, I got rhinestones. 

Taylor 
Maybe it's like a signature style of me just,  you know, for every little painting, add something to it.

Pat 
Professionally, you work as a graphic designer and you have this incredible painting career. How do these two creative practices influence each other? Like how do you balance them?

Taylor 
Yeah. I'm a professional graphic designer during the day. I have a nine to five job and I absolutely love it. But then at night I paint. You know, I always wanted to continue to paint. And I do find the time at night and on weekends, and some people kind of always ask like, “oh, how do you have the time to do more art after work?” But I'm like, oh, painting's a little different. Like a graphic designer staring at a computer all day and you know, your brain kind of hurts eventually. But painting actually helped me therapeutically. It kind of helps me unwind and you know, you can just let loose like yeah, the graphic design has to be so structural sometimes. Like, I can't make a mistake in graphic design as much. I deal with package design so there's no room for errors. And I love it. I absolutely love it, but painting helps me kind of unleash, kind of just be a little bit more creative and unwind. 

Pat
Well I understand that because when I taught, my day would end in the middle of the afternoon and d then I'd go to my studio for my day to start. That's when my day started. As you say, you go into it. It's not like, oh I gotta paint. It's like, oh boy, now I get to paint!

Taylor
Yeah, yeah. 

Taylor
Absolutely. I think everyone needs to have time to do what they love, you know, like unleash your creativity.

Pat
Well, your art so beautifully captures the spirit of Minnesota sports icons. What is it about the local sports culture that truly inspires you? What is it, Taylor?

Taylor 
So I started off doing musicians and then I just remember starting to watch football really, with my dad about six, seven years ago. And he taught me how football is played and I just grasped onto it. Ended up just loving it. My first athlete I've ever painted was Stefon Diggs. He doesn't play here anymore, but at the time while he was, yeah, he was getting really popular.

Pat 
Well, wasn't there that spectacular catch?

Taylor 
Yeah. And I have a story for that. I just picked him to paint just 'cause I just saw him on TV again. You have to have some sort of spark to inspire me to paint you like, I might not paint the most obvious choice like Tom Brady, or you know, quarterback. I wanted to paint Stefon Diggs 'cause I liked his personality and he was my dad's favorite player. And so, I decided to paint him. But I got so many people that were critiquing at the time, like, why did you choose him at first? This was right before his famous catch, like right before. And I'm like, I dunno. I, I like him, he's cool. I don't wanna paint the most popular player right now. I just paint who inspires. And so I ended up painting him. I finished this painting a week before his Miracle Catch.

Pat 
A bit of background here about the Stefon Diggs famous catch in the 2017- 18 NFL playoffs. During a divisional matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints in Minneapolis on January 14th, 2018, the Saints were ahead 24 to 23 with just 25 seconds left. On the final play of the game, Vikings quarterback Casey Keenum launched a 27-yard pass to wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who sprinted to the end zone to get a stunning 61 yard touchdown as time expired. This was the first time in NFL playoff history that a game ended with a touchdown as the clock hit zero. The play became known as the Minneapolis Miracle. Okay, let's get back to the podcast.

Taylor 
And then it exploded. Like everyone thought I predicted the miracle, because they're like, “oh, I remember you painted him just like a week ago. And then he caught this famous last second catch,” to make them go to I think the AFC championship, or it was just all the news. 

And then the news actually wanted to do a story on me. They thought I like predicted it. So, I think that that was my first athlete painting and it kind of inspired me.  Just the whole Minnesota sports culture on just, I dunno how, how much we just celebrate moments like that, you know? Yeah. Yes. We never win champions, but we have enthusiastic fans every year. They're so enthused and yeah, it kind of just took off from there to just maybe do a couple more.

Pat 
So one thing led to another.

Taylor 
Yeah, Uh, then I started getting involved with some of the charities for the Vikings. I wanted to donate a print of that painting to a Vikings charity. And Stefon signed it and I actually got to meet him and he was such a, such a sweet guy. He, he thought like, oh my God, you predicted it and you wanted me to paint him with a,

Pat 
The Vince Lombardi trophy.

Taylor
Or he wanted me to paint that next, so he wins the Super Bowl. And then Stefon Diggs mom started following me on Instagram and she is just says the sweetest things to me. And that's when I started kind of connecting with some of the family members too. And yeah, a lot of my first athlete portraits were for charities. I work actually, where my work is for graphic design. I'm only a mile away from the Vikings headquarters, so I would kind of have fun just like delivering paintings or prints to them for any of their local charity galas. And then there is when I started meeting some of the players and then got some commissions from them. Then now I am kind of within the athlete community now. But yeah, it started with Stefon Diggs and that kind of catch.

Pat 
Well, I noticed on your website that you are very active in causes. And you have them on your site and as you said, you contribute your art to them. Is there a special moment or experience from your charitable work that really touched your heart?

Taylor 
Yeah, I always just wanted to give back. I have a job and stuff. I mean, I wanted just to give back and just inspire people. I also did a Chris Squire was a musician from the band, Yes. And he sadly passed away from leukemia a while back. And he was such an influential musician as well that I really wanted to kind of give back and donate to the Mayo Clinic leukemia section because his wife or I connected with some of his family members. And instead of flowers they wanted people to donate to the leukemia section. And then that was the first charitable thing I did. I'm like, you know what? I have this painting, let's donate some of the proceeds to that. And I don't know, I just really wanna inspire people and these musicians  inspired me. So I, I wanna give back.

Pat
There's a question I'm dying to ask and anybody listening to this would probably want to ask. Meeting your music idols and seeing your work displayed in such prominent places must feel absolutely surreal. How do you keep yourself grounded and stay focused on your next creative project with all the success? How do you do it? How do you stay grounded?

Taylor
Oh, no, no. I'm, I'm always grounded or there's always goals. Goals ahead in the future, you know, always goals. And, you know, not every painting makes it, sometimes I kind have bumps in the roads, like, yes, sometimes they all, they can reach the musician and athletes, but a number of them don't. And you know, sometimes I get critiqued online from people like, that doesn't look like him. So, it not everything's perfect all the time. So I'm always pretty grounded. I'm just thankful for the opportunity. And, and in the end, even if it doesn't reach them, I'm just happy. I painted it for myself, you know, it's good practice maybe for a gallery someday. So, even if it doesn't work out, you're doing it for your yourself, you know?

Pat 
Yes. Spoken like a true artist.  So ,in your working process, do you work on one painting at a time or do you have a couple easels set up? Do you go between them? How do you work?

Taylor 
Basically, one at a time, but sometimes there's multiple involved. When it comes to commissions, I totally try to finish some on a timely matter. But when it comes to paintings for myself, I have some abandoned ones, like sometimes, I have a, I have a closet just dedicated to paintings and there's a lot of abandoned ones. I'm like, oh, why did I start this and stuff?

Pat 
Yeah. I understand.

Taylor 
I'm like, some of them are really bad doing paintings for myself. I might work on a couple at a time, but when it comes to commissions, I'm just straightly focused on finishing at a time.

 Pat 
Now do you live in a studio or do you have an apartment or a place where you live in your studios there?

Taylor 
Yes. I work in my apartment. I live downtown St. Paul in a loft apartment. And yeah, I have a great lighting. I have a 15-foot windows that have a beautiful view of downtown and I get a lot of natural light there. And yeah, I have my own little space, little nook of my easel and paintings. And then I actually got this apartment too, because of all the closet space I can put a lot of my paintings in, in closets.

Pat
Now I noticed that your sporting ink,  tat on your left arm. Yeah. What does it say?

Taylor
I just got this in Vegas, a couple months ago. “Rules the World,” it kind of has a little history to it, so it is based off the Tears For Fear song. “Everybody wants to rule the world” again. Huge eighties lover. My mom always told me she listened to the song on the radio the morning of her wedding. It played on the radio. And then I actually found out that the song peaked at number one in the US on the exact day of her anniversary. So, it was probably just like played for the first time in the US or at then. So, it always hold a meaning to my mom. And then I just always loved that song. And then, you know, I had some struggles in art college. I remember thinking like, oh, am I gonna make it as an artist or graphic designer?

Taylor 
But before a presentation I would listen to that song on my headphones and it's such an upbeat song like, don't worry, welcome to your life. So yeah, that song kind of got me through art and then kind of fast forward, kind of a full circle moment. I ended up painting Tears for Fears, just for fun. I saw them in concert a couple times and I just always wanted to paint them. And the painting kind of went viral. And they don't really have their own social media accounts, but the, the wife of Roland shared it on her page. And then some of his family members, Roland's family members follow me online again, I'm just was so thankful. I'm like, oh my gosh, like, my, like favorite musician,  his family follows me. And so yeah, that was just, I dunno. Then I just wanted to just say “rule the world,” like, just kind of with my art, just kind of full circle moment.

Pat 
It's perfect. 

Taylor 
I know it was my first too. I don't know, it took me a while to figure out. I was originally gonna do a cactus, uh, when I went to Vegas, but I got talked out of it and said like, no, something. Do a little something more meaningful. 

Pat 
Usually people who sport ink. I know. I have a couple. They're always, something personal.  It has to be story that you wanna carry with you and remind you.

Taylor 
No, it definitely has to be. Or else you might regret it later on. You know, I would never get a tattoo ever in my life. But no, I kind of liked it. It really didn't hurt at all.

Pat
You're very brave. You must not mind the needles

Taylor 
No, no. It's just like a little cat scratch.

Pat 
Well, that, that's different. Okay. So, Taylor, as you look to the future, what artistic goals or projects are you most excited about?

Taylor 
Well, I wanna have a gallery someday, but I, I never have enough paintings to save up for a gallery. I just always just try to like, sell my paintings or wanna keep them to myself. But the end goal, I would really just love like a, a gallery someday, just save up, just continue with like, the style of multimedia. And I don't know,  maybe someday, like way in the future. I know I love my graphic design so much, but someday I hope to maybe be a full-time, painter,  I have so many ideas and stuff and just not enough time, so

Pat 
Oh yes. There's never enough time.

Taylor
There's never enough. Even if it comes to me being, you know, older in life, I hope to. Maybe be a full-time painter.

Pat 
So when you say you want a gallery, do you wanna own a gallery or exhibit at a gallery? Oh,

Taylor
Just an exhibit. My painting's been shown in restaurants and bars, but I always wanted to, to have enough paintings just in an exhibit. Yeah. 

Taylor 
An exhibit at least.

Pat 
Well, I'm sure that's in your future. It just seems like you Oh,

Taylor
Thank you.

Pat 
The work you do, it would make a remarkable show if, uh, collectors would lend their paintings to a gallery exhibition so everyone could see the full span of what you do. It'd be great.

Taylor 
I'm so happy that, you know, these athletes are musicians, have paintings of mine, but then I kind of, I miss them a lot. 'cause some of my athletes, my painting of Anthony Edwards and Justin Jefferson kind of went together. They were both these bright giant paintings and then one part of the painting was of rhinestones. So for Anthony Edwards, it's, it was his basketball for Justin Jefferson. It's his gloves that he wears, football gloves. And then I have another painting, um, uh, of Joel Erickson EK from the Wild. He hasn't seen his painting yet. He, he is a little harder to reach, but the ice is on. His portrait is rhinestone. So those all were a trio, uh, a collection that I did with all three of them. And, and I'm so happy that two of them have 'em. But I kind of miss 'em because they, yeah, they really went well to together as like a triptych. I called it almost like a triptych. They were like, yeah. Perfectly aligned. So I do miss some, but I realized I guess I could always just paint more, I guess, if I ever wanted them a collection like that again.

Pat 
Yeah. Listeners, you can see those three paintings on the graphic for the podcast, the paintings that Taylor just talked about. Well, Taylor, looking back at your incredible journey from the early days, inspired by your grandfather to having your art celebrated by celebrities, icons, and seen around the world, what advice would you give to someone who dreams of being an artist, but they're just not sure they have what it takes?

Taylor 
It's all about passion. You gotta have the passion. Um, don't worry about the skill yet. You can always develop the skill, but you gotta have the, the passion. And there was moments, and I just wanna say Pat, that you were such a huge inspiration for me. You, you were the ones that taught me how to paint my, my grandpa taught me how to draw. You taught me how to paint, to be honest. So you were just a huge inspiration. And, and going into Hill Murray, it was such a competitive high school. A lot of people just wanted to be like doctors. And I had so many, uh, classmates that were like all about money. They didn't wanna do art. It's all about money. They're gonna, you know, and, and I don't know, there was a lot of moments where I did wanna quit. I was really good at math and I could have followed my parents' footsteps and became, um, into finance and stuff.

Taylor 
But, but you really, there, there's moments where you're like, no, Taylor gotta gotta continue. Don't worry. You know, and you helped me, uh, apply to art school and I owe you the world, Pat, so thank you so much. 

But just don't give it up, you know, and all these artists out there that just, just try it. Try, just try it. You can always find a different career if you want later, but when you're driven on art,  just give it a try and, you go to art school if you want, just try it. You can always change your major later. So just don't give up. Don't be influenced by people say about like money and Yeah. And everything like that. Just because, you only live once. You wanna do something that you love.

Pat 
Taylor, thank you for that. And I have to say, some artists didn't like teaching. They'd go, oh, I gotta go teach. For me, walking into an art classroom and seeing a talent like yours, it's just like all these talented kids and you really did stand out. It was just to me, a no-brainer. This kid has art in her DNA, she's gonna do something. And so, it was my pleasure and honor just to be any part of your journey, I gotta tell you. And I delighted I follow you on Facebook and I follow Insta and I see these new paintings, I go, “Whoa, that is so Taylor. That is so Taylor.” Yeah.

Taylor 
And you were huge inspiration. I still remember some of the techniques you taught me. I actually just the other day I was, I'm painting Caitlyn Clark right now. Just for fun. Like, we'll see if she sees it, but it's just for fun. But I remember,  you taught me don't paint teeth. You never paint teeth on people.I just, I remember some stuff you taught me because I was like, oh, maybe I can paint her teeth, but I'm like, no, Pat said no, never paint the teeth. Like you'll never get it Right.

Pat 
Yeah. If you can just kind of mock a suggestion of teeth. But don't paint the teeth.

Taylor 
No, the only teeth I painted though was Mick Jagger because he has a gap tooth that I think you have to with like a gap tooth.

Pat
Okay, there, you had to do it Taylor.

Taylor 
... you still, you taught me so many, so much technique. I think you were the first one that taught me how to use acrylic paint, so I, yeah, I still remember some of your techniques that you showed me and yeah, your voice is in my head, no teeth and other stuff too. 

Pat 
Well, I hope it's the good stuff.

Taylor 
Yeah.  Well, absolutely.

Pat 
Well, Taylor, it's so good to see you again.  And thank you so much, much for joining us today. It just, it was delightful to hear you talk about your work and the wisdom that you have acquired in your artistic journey. It's just awesome. 

Taylor 
Thank you. Oh, it's so great to connect after all these years. Yeah. Just come full circle with like what you taught me and everything like that. And then me still doing art and being inspired by what you do. This has been so great.

Pat
Well, thank you. And listeners, if you've enjoyed today's podcast, I don't know how you could not enjoy this. Okay. If you enjoyed today's podcast, please let other people know. Spread the good word about filter capacity. And thank you for joining us. Bye.