Born in Montreal, Canada, Heidi Taillefer began drawing at the age of 3, and was brought up in a family rich in creative talent. Always attracted to the bizarre and unusual, she was fascinated by strange animal specimens and haunting turn of the century side show oddities. As a child she continued her pursuit with ten years of private art lessons, where she developed skills in watercolor painting. Taillefer has been influenced by a number of sources such as nature and quirky thrift shop objects and obscurities. She is also influenced by all manners of artistic genres from surrealism to the abstract.
Taillefer’s tastes range from the ridiculous and the absurd to the sacred and sublime. She pursues the deeper meaning of things while possessing a strong sense of humor. Taillefer paints mostly about philosophical observations on life, which are drawn out of personal experience, and parlayed into an exploration of more universal issues.
Taillefer’s work has appeared in numerous publications, and on the covers of various books and magazines. In 1999, she created the internationally recognized image of Dralion for the Cirque du Soleil. Taillefer has exhibited her paintings across North America, most recently at the Joshua Liner Gallery in New York, and Irvine Contemporary in Washington, DC.
To find out more, visit HeidiTaillefer.com.
Sources: Thompson Landry, Joshua Liner Gallery, Montreal Mirror