Local artist Danielle Taylor sees art everywhere. And using a process that involves sketching, plaster, and palate knife painting with a variety of colors, paint types and textures, she recreates the art she sees for others to enjoy.

“I don’t ever not see art,” Taylor said. “In the clouds, the way the light hits things ... There is never a time I’m not inspired to paint.”

Taylor was born and raised in the Flathead Valley and graduated from Bigfork High School. She attended college at California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State) and earned a bachelor’s degree in art. She currently lives in Somers, and owns and operates the Local Color Studio in Whitefish.

“I’ve just always loved art, since I was a little kid,” Taylor said. “There have been periods of time where, by accident, I got into some interior design. That was actually the field I started in at college. But my true passion is art.”

Taylor returned home to the Flathead Valley to pursue her passion in 2006. She worked as the art director with the Boys and Girls Club for about a year before opening her own studio and gallery in Bigfork.

It was during that time she delved into interior design work as an independent artist, creating commissioned large-scale murals in people’s homes.

“The mural work exposed me to some other materials and techniques,” Taylor said. “I learned a lot of discipline from interior design. But art kept pulling me back. With my art, I get to be more myself.”

After several years in Bigfork, Taylor hit the road and spent about two years traveling. Upon her return, she opened Local Color Studio, which has now seen five years of success despite some less-than-ideal locations.

“In Whitefish I started downstairs under the Toggery, and that was moving from a spot off an alley when I was in Bigfork,” Taylor said. “I was grateful for that space, but being in a basement without the advantage of [natural] light made it hard.

“Even when I was a kid I did a lot of nature, and my favorite thing now is plein air. So when the space above the fly shop opened a couple years ago, I was really excited. And that’s been a good space for me.”

Local Color Studio is currently located above the Lakestream Fly Shop at 334 Central Ave. in Whitefish. The space boasts ample windows for natural light and an outdoor roof patio.

“It’s a great art community [in Whitefish],” Taylor said. “It’s awesome to be a part of it.”

The studio space in Whitefish has served Taylor and her creations well, but as the seasons outside change, so is her life taking another direction.

“More and more, I’ve found that I’m spending less and less time in that location,” Taylor said. “Trying to run a business and pursue my art at the same time ... I just want to focus on making art.”

After the final Whitefish Gallery Nights event of the season on Oct. 6, Taylor is closing up shop and taking her art on the road. She plans to pack her life, her art supplies and her dog Kingston into a camper for a six-month, cross-country trip planned around various art shows — San Diego to Miami to Palm Springs to New York — before coming back to the Flathead Valley in April 2017. When she returns, she hopes to buy a piece of land for a private studio and devote her time to creating art.

“I’m looking forward to the lack of stress and distractions,” Taylor said. “I’m ready to focus on painting, and expanding my audience and subject matter.

“I want the freedom to say, ‘Where do I want to go paint today?’ I’m excited to be inspired by different places and actually have the time to paint it.”

As primarily a landscape and wildlife artist, Taylor said she looks forward to creating paintings of the coastline and desert while traveling.

“My hope with the landscapes is that it makes people feel it,” she said. “That it gives them the feeling of being in these places.”

Taylor said she hopes to continue to build on her success by expanding her reach outside of Montana. She added that none of her work would be possible without the support of her family — her parents, in particular — her friends and the larger community of artists she’s been able to meet and work with here.

“There’s some nerves in leaving it all behind, but I’m mostly excited,” Taylor said. “It’s a lot of butterfly nerves, not anxiety.

“I’m pretty hard to knock down. Every day is a challenge, but I’ve been very fortunate to be well-received in the community and supported by family and friends. A lot of it is luck, but a positive attitude I feel like helps you be luckier.”

Taylor plans to keep her Facebook page (www.facebook.com/localcolorstudio) and her Instagram (@dtaylorart) active while she’s on the road. She also hopes to have a website and blog of her experiences for friends, family and fans to share her journey, but those pieces are still in the works. Taylor said she will announce the website information on her social media accounts as soon as it’s completed.

After closing Local Color Studio in October, she will be represented locally by Whitefish Pottery and Stillwater Gallery, 240 Central Ave. in Whitefish, where her artwork will be on display and for sale.

“This is what I need to do right now to expand,” Taylor said. “You know, if you’re an artist you’re an artist. You can train yourself to do something creative everyday. But then you have to make a living too. If you love something, you just have to keep going.

“I think if you’re going to make a living [as an artist] you have to be totally open to all experiences. And if you care about it enough, good things are going to happen.”

Entertainment editor Stefanie Thompson can be reached at 758-4439 or ThisWeek@dailyinterlake.com.