Wilde.Ink in the Desert

Laurel Taylor, aka Wilde.Ink, is a multidisciplinary artist based in Taos, New Mexico. At her print studio in Arroyo Seco, NM, just 20 minutes north of Taos, she hand carves imagery inspired by the surrounding nature, wildlife, and the expanses of the mind and spirit. With Wilde.Ink imagery, Laurel creates apparel and accessories adorned with hand pulled prints, large scale hand dyed and hand made cotton tapestries in meditative patterns, and works on paper. 

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Laurel was wrapping up her associates of Fine Art at University of New Mexico and decided it was good timing to build up her art practice to prepare for having her own art business. She worked in the restaurant industry for years before, and was always an artist on the sidelines while raising her two children. The ‘great pause’ allowed her to redirect her life’s path and become a more present parent. 

After forming a committed studio practice, Laurel again found block printing as a medium to continually work with, and by November of 2020, Wilde.Ink was born. Wilde.Ink began with one-of-a-kind hand-printed pattern onto cotton bandanas and upcycled clothing, and has since evolved into offering a variety of apparel, handmade and hand dyed items, and works on paper. 

Imagery for Wilde.Ink is inspired from the high elevation Northern New Mexico desert, and weaves together imagery from deep meditative states to reveal the dance between spirit and nature realms that is prevalent in Taos, NM.

“I often ruminate on imagery for months before I draw it up and carve it. I’ll take a note of an idea and then I will revisit the idea drawing it in my imagination many times over in my mind’s eye before bringing it into this reality. I usually use procreate to create a simple linear design to transfer onto a block of speedball’s speedy carve material, but sometimes designs also originate from doodles. My most joyous moments in this practice of hand carving and hand printing is when pattern is revealed to me once I can print with the block. I consider how prints will fit together while I’m brainstorming, but nothing is quite like printing and discovering it. I become giddy when I unlock it, almost as if the design finally gets to speak in its language and the pattern is my way of deciphering what it needs to say. I’m a firm believer in the magic of this life and in being present to witness the ways that illuminate my pathway on this journey in life and my artwork. My studio is always a mess as I always have a project I am working on, and I am usually singing different songs from around the world that are prayers to the Earth and to spirit/the universe. I like to think of the studio as a ceremonial space in a way, as it is the portal that these ideas comes through.”

Laurel’s preferred ink is Speedball’s Oil Based Fabric Ink (and it’s washable with soap and water!) for fabric, and intaglio ink for paper. She hand presses every print, and is growing her hand made offering in her shop. 

Her big dream for Wilde.Ink is to offer printed bolts of patterned fabric, hand sewn items with this patterned fabric, and create custom tapestries for people’s meditative/sacred spaces. Along with this dream, Laurel has recently explored building sculptural works out of hand printed paper and wire armature, and if time permits, she would enjoy diving deeper into that bridge between the block printing and fine art world. 

www.wildeinkshop.com
@wilde.ink

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