Meet Tayler Hatcher of Tayler Texas in Beaumont

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tayler Hatcher.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Tayler. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve been drawing and painting since I was probably three years old. I remember my mom doodling on a notepad while talking on the phone with one of her many photography clients. She’d draw cartoon faces, flowers, grass – all that. I wanted to do the same, so I asked her to teach me. Ever since, I’ve been hooked.

I grew up helping in my mom’s photography studio, and it was always a SUPER creative, fun environment – lots of costumes, props and painted backgrounds. It was in this studio that I developed my love for painting, digital graphics and film work. I was seriously blessed to have such a great place to let my creativity soar and I always felt very inspired by my surroundings. Not just with the settings, but by the people within my family.

On my mom’s side, my family can be traced back to “Austin’s Old 300” (the first three hundred people to settle in Texas with Stephen F. Austin). On my dad’s, we have a huge cattle ranch, and everyone is VERY Cajun with big, bold personalities. Basically, you take a naturally artistic kid, place them in this blend of heavy Texan and Cajun and Tex Mex cultures- and you get me and my art. It’s loud and colorful and fun- just like the fam!

After I graduated high school, I studied at Texas A&M University in College Station, where I got my Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Communications and Journalism. While in college, I’d make money on the side doing graphic designs for small businesses, filming weddings and painting coolers for sorority girls’ formal dates. After I finished up at A&M in 2014, though, I came back to the Beaumont area (about 50 minutes from Houston) after that to teach a speech class at Hamshire-Fannett High School for two years. While I absolutely loved my students and coworkers, I got to do lots of fun extracurriculars like co-directing the Drill Team and working with the Yearbook staff, I still had a desire to become an artist. After two years of teaching, I decided last year that I would really give my passions a go and now in 2018, I am a full-time artist, videographer, and animator!

I’ve painted everything from the typical “Livestock” paintings you’ll see when you think of Texas artists, to pop art portraits of Willie Nelson sporting the words “Pot, Lock, And Drop it”, to Selena Quintanilla holding a Dr. Pepper bottle, surrounded by whataburger fries (the latter getting a surprisingly great response on social media and various news outlets lately such as ABC 13 in Houston!) I’ve gotten some of my work featured by Texas musicians like Josh Abbott and Aaron Watson, and I was even commissioned to create a super funky and colorful animated music video for Flatland Cavalry out of Lubbock, Texas (a really badass Texas Country-meets-Americana band). I’ve painted murals in various places around southeast Texas- some churches, some businesses, some schools. I film the births of newborns, grooms crying tears of joy when they see their brides walking down the aisle. But out of everything I do, my favorite thing is still painting with acrylic on canvas. I’ve switched over from taking custom orders so much, to being more selective about what I want to paint, and creating more original pieces that are just weird ideas that pop into my head. Almost everything I create is inspired by Texas. Whether it be food, beer, musicians, icons, animals- if Texas made it, I wanna paint it.

While I’m not technically a Houstonian, I grew up in southeast Texas and Houston has been a big part of my growing business. I’ll travel to and from Houston on a weekly basis delivering paintings and prints to clients of every background you can imagine. One of my more popular paintings that my Houston customers LOVE is the one I made of the Houston Astros Championship Ring from their World Series win in 2017. It’s bright, blingin, and I think that it gives H-Town a big sense well-deserved patriotism.

That’s why I love Texas. Come hell or high water, the culture and spirit never die. It’s the same spirit I try to portray through my artwork and I hope it shows.

(Side note- not all of my paintings are ONLY Texan things. i.e., Dwight Schrute from the office simply because I love that show.)

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As far as support goes, I think I’ve been outstandingly blessed. Essentially everyone I talk to in my little hometown is extremely encouraging. Even if it’s just a little old lady at the grocery store coming up to me and saying they loved one of my armadillo paintings on Facebook, it does so much for my soul. I think keeping a positive energy is important for me as an artist. I know a lot of artists prefer to summon up emotions from sadness to help them create their works, but I’ve always thrived on happiness and color!

Every so often I’ll have a painting or project go viral. And while I’d say that 99% of my feedback is always really supportive, you always get these “negative nancies” who straight up HATE your style.

But I will say that the first time I had critics, I was overjoyed! I felt like a *real* artist for the first time! So honestly, even though it always stings a bit to have harsh feedback, I genuinely love having haters. It makes me feel like I’m really getting close to where I wanna be as an artist.

Please tell us about Tayler Texas.
My website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are all called “Tayler Texas” because I freaking. adore. Texas. I offer murals, videography services, and I like to feature lots of eclectic decor inspiration for my followers on Instagram, as well. I specialize though in pop art! My mission is to give more Texans variety in their art choices and to give non-Texans a taste of Texas.

I realized a few years ago, that if you wanted “Texas” art, you’d mostly be stuck with just a few genres, and you’d get the same old thing. Cows, barns, and the Alamo. While I seriously do love all of those things (I literally live in a barn, next to a pasture filled with cows and painted my own grandfather a picture of the Alamo during Christmas), I just felt like we have more to offer than those things alone.

Like, we gave the world Post Malone, Janis Joplin and Beyonce. Freaking Beyonce. And, I plan on painting them all.

So, I’m definitely most proud of the fact that I’m getting the opportunity to showcase the best of what our state has to offer (and if I may say so, I think our state is already the best- so that makes our stuff the “best of the best”)!

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I think I would’ve started saying “no” a lot sooner. Here recently, I’ve noticed that when I say no to the projects I know aren’t going to benefit me in developing my craft, that I’m actually saying “yes” to bigger and better things.

Contact Info:

• Website: taylertexas.com
• Email: taylerbreanncreations@gmail.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/tayler_texas
• Facebook: Facebook.com/taylertexas

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