From the age of five he's been either drawing or painting as a means of self-expression and although not every medium has appealed, his current passion certainly does.

"I've tried drawing, painting, sculpture, engraving and lino prints, not a big fan of that, and I've done oil painting, which I hated," he said.

"What I really like are water painting, ink painting, digital art and now new media like my tattooing."

Taylor is working as a trainee in tattooing at the Goldrush Collective in Blayney where the walls are adorned with his indigenous artworks.

Taylor was born in Bathurst and attended Blayney Public School when he was younger. As a Wiradyuri man Taylor has been learning what he can and can't draw.

"There's women's art and men's art," he said. "There is also our totem, the Goanna, which we can't show being hurt or harmed in any way."

Sitting hunched over a piece of canvas delicately placing dots and painting shapes to tell a story requires a lot of discipline from someone who freely admits to having had a lost youth.

"I really moved around a lot so in a way I didn't have someone to guide me." he said.

That guidance and self-discipline came from martial arts and the inherent requirement that the person undertaking the training must stay focussed on the task at hand.

"I was playing rugby with Panther's in Bathurst and I just didn't find it physical enough. I was very angry, " he said. "So I went to Pollet's Martial Arts and began to train there."

"With rugby it was really unstable as to what happens, but in martial arts it's really controlled and builds your patience because without it there's no way I could sit down for four or five hours and do a painting or a tattoo."

Martial Arts has also taught him the acceptance that although things in life often go wrong, patience, concentration and resilience are the keys to success.

"I make mistakes all the time on a painting and I'll fix it and come back later where some others will just smudge a dot and they'll just give up all together," he said.

In the future Taylor will continue with his aboriginal art and is excited about what tattooing can bring.

"There's so much creativity with tattooing," he said.

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