FAIRHOPE, Ala. — As a former scientist, Trés Taylor left the lab and his high-paying research job after visiting folk artist, R.A. Miller in 1998. He believes a “paintbrush fell from the sky.”

Taylor paints about divine love, peace, joy and spiritual seeking. Some of his favorite subjects include monks, couples, houses and bicycles. His style has been compared to the late Japanese Picasso, Munakata Shiko.

Using bold-colored acrylics and house paints, Taylor paints his unique images on tar paper, rice paper, wood and other recycled materials.

Taylor’s involvement in art has led him to many community projects. His current installation at the Eastern Shore Art Center in Fairhope, consisting of an labyrinth pictorial story of spirituality, filled with symbols of love, has led him to yet another community project involving children.

Nancy Raia, ESAC community outreach coordinator, invited children with special needs and children from both Baldwin and Mobile counties to paint with Taylor.

More than 100 children attended this hands-on workshop. On long rolls of tarpaper, using chalk, he first drew a long road through the middle, and described it as the journey we all travel.

Then, also using chalk, the children were invited to add images from their thoughts and dreams.

The children responded beautifully, adding houses, bicycles, spiral shapes, trees, people, animals and even a few UFOs.

Next Taylor guided them, as they added the bright-colored paint to their carefully drawn images.

Children, Taylor’s wife, Helene, and several volunteers were present to help.

After the children finished working on the collaborative murals, they were invited to decorate an old pair of shoes, using paint.

The children were next able to walk through Taylor’s installation, listening to him as he described the story of his journey, told through paint.

Once all the layers of paint had fully dried, Taylor rolled up the tar paper, and packed up the many pairs of shoes … taking them all home to his studio in Birmingham, where he will add the finishing touches.

When Raia asked how will he add the students’ work, he commented, “They will lead me into this,” then added, “I am following in their footsteps. The children are closest to imagination. They are my teacher.”

The work from this collaborative community project, entitled “Walking in the Footsteps of Children,” will be for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to help further children’s art projects through the Eastern Shore Art Center.

Taylor has exhibited in Japan, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas and California, and he currently resides in Birmingham with his wife and two stepchildren.

He says he feels closest to God when he is painting.

The two Eastern Shore Art Center exhibits by Trés Taylor are Amaze (Jan. 8–Feb. 27, held over) and Walking in the Footsteps of Children (Feb. 5-Feb. 27).

For more information, (251) call 928-2228.

To visit Taylor online, click on www.trestaylor.com.