Brushstrokes of Belief – The Artistry and Mission of Janice Taylor

Janice Taylor shares her path to a full-time art ministry that brings faith to life on canvas

Janice Taylor explores the intersection of faith and art, blending diverse influences and materials into a vivid expression of spirituality, personal transformation, and community connection through her creative practice.

Janice Taylor’s journey to becoming a full-time artist is as richly layered and eclectic as her artwork itself. Known for her interpretive and deeply evocative pieces, Janice’s art invites viewers into a contemplative exploration of faith, community, and personal revelation. With a creative style spanning mixed media, gelli printing, charcoal, and painting on unique surfaces like teabag paper, her works are celebrated for their spirit of curiosity and playful experimentation. Yet behind every brushstroke lies a purpose rooted in her dedication to sharing her faith—a calling that has guided her creative and personal life for decades. Taylor’s involvement with international teams and diverse cultural settings has left a profound mark on her style, which effortlessly weaves together inspiration from her extensive travels, missionary work, and educational background. Mosaic Digest Magazine is thrilled to present this insightful conversation with Janice, where she opens up about the challenges, joys, and transformations that have shaped her remarkable artistic journey.

Janice Taylor’s art captivates with its profound spirituality, inventive spirit, and fearless blend of materials, inviting viewers into a deeper experience.

How has your journey from education and mission work to becoming a full-time artist influenced your creative process and subject matter in art? 

During my time as a high school teacher my classrooms were always full of creative expression both from the children and myself. I have always been creative in the way I taught and as I moved into full-time mission work and developed as a trainer and curriculum developer, I continued to be so. I am an ideas person, sometimes I have more ideas than I know what to do with. I guess my creative processes have always been for front in whatever I was asked to be involved in. My subject matter comes from where I find myself personally on my faith journey and often find an image comes to me when I am reading scripture, and it is easy to paint. Sometimes I just enjoy painting from my imagination or something I have sketched while travelling.

What role does your Christian faith play in the art you create, and how do you incorporate it into your exhibitions and interactions with communities?

The subject matter is eclectic and comes from a sense of what I believe God is saying to me. Some call this prophetic art and while I have no issue with the term, I would rather use the term interpretive art; leaving it to the individual to interpret for themselves what they believe the artwork is saying to them. I am often invited to paint live in church services and Christian conferences. I have no idea at the start of what I will paint or the colour palette I will use. It is totally a reliance on God’s Spirit to inform me. I don’t believe I would be working as a full-time artist if it wasn’t for my Christian faith.

Given your eclectic style and use of various mediums, what drives your experimentation with different forms of art, and how do you decide what to explore next?

Oh this is a tricky one.  Sometimes I go into my studio and have no idea what I even want to do. Do I pick up the paints? If so which ones, oil, acrylic, water paints? Should I do some gelli printing, lino printing, or charcoal drawing.  At that point I usually just begin to tidy and organise till something strikes me.

If I hear of a new way of doing something or a new material or paper, (printing onto teabag paper seems to be the current trend) I find myself having to have a go. I like to mix the mediums just so I can see what happens. In art, part of the fun is trying things out. I make a lot of rubbish too but that is part of the learning process. In the end, it is just about having fun.

You’ve travelled extensively and worked with international teams—how have these experiences shaped the themes or techniques in your artwork?

 Operation Mobilisation has an international department called Inspiro Arts Alliance. This is a network of Christians who have a ministry in every genre of the arts worldwide. Early on the first international outreach I did was in Belgium over Easter collaborating with musicians, actors, animators, and dancers. Producing a piece of artwork for one of the stations of the cross was a challenge, it was the first piece of mixed media art that I did; before I even knew what mixed media art was. The second outreach was in Italy working alongside trained and accomplished artists. I was totally out of my depth, but they gave me a lot of encouragement and I just took a deep breath and dove in using the mixed media technique again. I think these experiences have shaped much of what I do now both publicly and privately.

What challenges have you faced in transitioning from being Head of Learning and Development to a full-time artist, and how have you navigated them?

The move to being a full-time artist was a complete surprise to me.  It started as a way of getting involved in a local community where I was living as much of my time was spent in travelling; I knew very few local people. I set up a small studio space in my office and would take breaks to paint as a way of thinking and reflecting on what I was producing as head of Learning and Development. I would also set up a painting area in various meetings and paint images that came to me that incorporated the issues being raised. The leadership had no problem with this and actively encouraged me. After a while I felt more of a calling to be involved with the arts full time and I soon found myself giving up the L&D role and developing an art ministry for OM in the UK.

I confess there were some challenges. In OM we must raise our own financial support and now I was faced with not only raising financial support for my living but also for my fledgling ministry. As I believed the move from L&D to an arts ministry was a call of God, I had complete faith that these costs would be covered, and they were. The biggest challenge was not having a team of artists to work and develop with.

Another challenge was to forge links with other Christians who were working in the UK and engage them in joining with me on specific outreaches.  Mostly though I would work with an outreach team in a local church and use art as part of their programme.  It meant travelling again but this time only in the UK.

I am quite a highly motivated and a self-starter creating opportunities. I found many opportunities that I could be involved in, the challenge was to choose the right ones. Now that I am retired from OMUK I have found I am still engaged in art ministry through invitations and contacts I have made. I guess I am not retired but re-tyred.

Lockdown was hard for me as a 100% people person. I was looking how to engage with my community locally. The Archbishop of Canterbury invited people to put Palm branches in their window for Palm Sunday.  I didn’t have any so I painted them and Jesus on a donkey on my window.  For the rest of Holy Week, I painted each day a different image leading up to the resurrection. I posted them on social media and in my local fb group. I had so many positive comments, I continued throughout lockdown and for a little while after, but just one a week. People walked down my drive to look at them. I was told children had their parents slow down in the car so they could see them.  They were on a variety of themes but all with a faith basis. I still get called the lady with the painted windows. It enabled me to share more about my faith to those were interested.

On two occasions I hired a 69’ canal boat and took a group of international artists on an outreach along the Llangollen canal. We produced art often giving it away and engaged with people we met.