Marie Taylor, Maize High School Art teacher, featured in the debut of Lillian Gattis’s new children’s book, “El Gato Bebe Leche” on Nov. 15, 2024. The book was read at the Wichita Art Museum for their annual Spanish Night. Author Lillian Gattis utilized the help of Marie Taylor for illustrations and Teresa Molina, a professor at Friends University, for translation. The book has both English and Spanish translations at once, which can help young children learn each language.
“I used to work the front desk at the Art Museum. One day Teresa and Marie came in together. I started talking about this book idea I had and both of them were ready to jump right in and help,” Gattis said.
The cat in the story, Sol, is based off of Taylor’s cat at home, even sharing his name. “He’s named in Spanish after the sun, and he’s orange. He’s hilarious. I have never known a cat that’s more personable,” Taylor said.
Taylor was taught everything about art by her mother, who was an artist as well. “My mom was actually an art teacher, and so I followed her footsteps into this field, and she did a lot of printmaking, which inspired me to do the same, so it’s sort of like I’m in the second generation. She got her master’s in printmaking at K State, and I attended Kansas State University as well,” Taylor said.
The experience has allowed Taylor to be a better teacher but also opened her up to being taught by her students. “You really gotta trust the process and not be too hard on yourself. I think there’s this voice that can tell you your work isn’t good enough, and it’s not one you should ever listen to. It’s really important to keep the play in things. In the classroom we’re very experimental and it’s okay to be uncomfortable. It’s even okay to dislike your work because whatever you make you need to celebrate and honor it. The things that you’ve invested time in might later become a bigger thing you would have never imagined,” Taylor said.
