American artist E.J. Taylor grew up in the Pacific Northwest. His father and the entire Taylor family were salmon fishermen; E.J. spent the summers of his childhood in a fishing cannery on Kodiak Island off the coast of Alaska with his parents and younger brother. He lived with his family on a dairy horse and sheep farm for the rest of the year. He studied art and theater in college and later costume and fashion design at Parsons School of Design in New York City. While in New York, he worked as a designer in theater, musical theater, film, and ballet. He is a member of the United Scenic Artist Union for film and theater in New York. After moving to London in 1979, he wrote and illustrated a successful series of children's books the Ivy Cottage series.

Krystyna Poray Goddu, while head of Special Projects for Contemporary Doll magazine, 1999 wrote, "an unsettling beauty distinguishes E.J. Taylor's figures.There are striking in their mystery, depth and emotional power. The artist's work makes profound connections to the human spirit." 

Robert Tonner, NIADA president (1995-1997), remembers when the NIADA members saw Taylor's work "we were all just blown away by it."
Contemporary Doll magazine, Sept 1999 

Lisa Lichtenfels, NIADA artist -- "When you look at E.J. Taylor's work seeing past the perfection of execution, there is the most essential element of great art: Honesty. A clear on unadulterated vision straight from the soul is the most difficult thing to attain. The result is art which speaks its own language, something new, not a shadow of another person's vision."
Contemporary Doll magazine, Sept 1999 

Michael Hinkle, who represents Taylor's work through his gallery "the Figurative Gallery of Contemporary Art,” describes the artist process as “emotionally charged and finds that his strengths lie within his patience, control and deep understanding of form, construction and movement.”
Contemporary Doll magazine, Sept 1999 

Krystyna Poray Goddu, while head of Special Projects for Contemporary Doll magazine, 1999 wrote, "E.J. Taylor's figures embody the statements of the French theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881 -- 1995) who wrote, We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. With paper clay, paints and fabric, E.J. Taylor gives form to the spiritual beings caught in the human experience." 

John Darcy Noble, while curator of the Toy Collection at the Museum of the City of New York, found himself so mesmerized by the artist work that he arranged to meet him. Many years later Noble wrote evocatively about Taylor's early work, praising its “curious stillness, its interned awareness of its self and its intrinsic worth.” Contemporary Doll magazine, Aug 1993 

Barbara Campbell, while editor of Contemporary Doll Collector, 1995 writes, "before this publication became a reality, when doll artists gathered, we heard his name mentioned in reverence.” 

Barbara Spadaccini Day, while curator of the toy department at the Musée des Art Decoratifs in Paris says, "it has become a cliché to say that artists look like their dolls. E.J. resembles his work, not in a physical, visual way but in a deeper spiritual mode. His work is quiet and strong, gentle and vibrant like E.J. himself. It is never anecdotal, trivial or aggressive, but thought provoking, poignant and poetic. His dolls convey a very powerful sense of presence and evoke the profound inner depth; the stamp of the true inner artist." Contemporary Doll magazine, Sept 1999