Hi, my name is Luke Taft. I received a degree in fine art from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. I work as a musician, artist, and arts educator in the beautiful town of Palatka in North Florida. Palatka, a small town nestled on the edge of cypress swamps on the Saint Johns River, has a colorful downtown with a strong revitalization effort, historic buildings and architecture, and is developing a thriving arts community. It is here that my partner, Susan, also a professional artist, and I have opened up a studio/ gallery and a non-profit fine arts school for youth called The Art Hole.
I work in variety of mediums including oil paints, soft pastel, charcoal, and airbrush. I recently began low-fi photorealistic portraits with Crayola crayon on canvas. My work in portraiture has grounded me in precise technique while my meandering imagination drives a need to use exaggerated saturation and play with perception. This combination pushes much of my work into the realm of admittedly bizarre, but often thought provoking depictions of real life subjects set into an alternate reality. My work in teaching art is very important to me and I firmly believe that it strengthens the community when our youth have a creative outlet. We are all artists, as art is merely unique expression. When provided the tools, we can speak this language more articulately and expand our ability to think and communicate.......... |