Matthew James Taylor: Artist, Designer, Author

I'm An Artist

I’ve been creating art from the moment I could pick up a pencil (45+ years).

My Dad, Kevin Taylor, was a professional artist and private art teacher and he inspired me creatively from an early age.

While I was a kid, our family opened a series of art galleries in Mudgee, Gulgong, and Hervey Bay, and I sold small works from time to time. These art galleries were the inspiration behind my online art gallery where I showcase all of my best artwork.

I'm particularly interested in vector art, watercolor painting, fractals, and art nouveau.

I'm A Web Developer

I have over two decades of professional experience working as a web developer.

In 1997, I built my first website... just for fun, it was this blog (see my website history) and shortly after, word spread that I could build websites, so I started receiving job offers.

In 1999, I moved to Sydney and joined Strathfield Car Radios as their full-time web developer to manage all aspects of their website.

In 2005, I moved to PropertyLook (a commercial real estate website) as their lead developer and SEO strategist. While there, I helped move our traffic ranking from 3rd to 2nd place in the market. A year later, PropertyLook was sold to realestate.com.au for $9 Million and combined with their existing commercial real estate website.

In 2006, I joined Multimap (a British mapping company) as a developer and an SEO specialist.

In 2007, I transitioned to Microsoft when they acquired Multimap for $50 Million.

In 2009, I began working for Hannover Fairs Australia as the lead developer for the CeBit Australia website and I built their exhibition ticketing engine for their technology expo for the following year.

In 2010, I joined the team at Student Services Australia and single-handedly rebuilt Flatmates.com.au from scratch. As part of the build, I designed the website architecture to maximize SEO and I implemented a responsive design for mobile users. Flatmates quickly became the #1 share accommodation website in Australia and it was sold to realestate.com.au for $25 Million shortly after.

In 2014, I joined Nine Entertainment Co. to work on their high-profile network sites including Nine.com.au, 9News, Wide World of Sports, 9Now, and many more.

In 2018, I launched my Kidsit babysitting blog as a side project where I could share my fun kids' entertainment ideas and crafts.

In 2020, I quit my day job to focus on running my own websites and blogging as my full-time occupation.

In 2022, I launched a babysitting marketplace on Kidsit where families can post babysitting jobs and find a babysitter, sitters can create babysitting profiles and apply for babysitting jobs.

Over the years I've had the pleasure of working with many talented and inspiring people who have taught me so much about all aspects of web development. This blog is where I share my web knowledge as a way to give back.

I've also been an active member of Stack Overflow for over 13 years and I often answer people's web design questions (and ask some too).

View my web design portfolio for examples of my work.

See the history of this website.

I'm An Author

I'm the proud author of two very different books.

Babysitting Business Secrets

In 2020, I wrote and published this book to complement my babysitting blog. It's available on Amazon as an inexpensive eBook or a full-color paperback with over 100 illustrations.

The Land of No Horizon

In 2001, my father and I co-authored and published The Land of No Horizon, a weird, unique, and crazy book about the hollow Earth theory. It took approximately 12 years to research and write and there's nothing else like it on the planet! It's extremely hard to find a copy.

In 2008, The Land of No Horizon was translated into Japanese and republished by Tokuma-Shoten and it is available at Kinokuniya in Japan.

Learn more about the design of my books.

I Love Life Drawing

In 2000, I became a life drawing student at Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney, Australia, where I learned human anatomy and studied classical drawings by master artists. I have also attended many other life drawing classes over the last two decades at different venues around Sydney.

I have amassed over one thousand life drawings in many different mediums, see some of my favorites:

• Ink and wash
• Chalk and Conté Crayon
• Graphite pencil
• Charcoal pencil
• White charcoal

I've explored many different subjects and styiles too:

• Portraiture
• Still life
• Drapery

You can buy my life drawings on OpenSea as NFTs if you're into that sort of thing.

I Love Architecture

One of my favorite pastimes is designing small houses. I love to build models in 3D, with balsa wood, and with paper.

I am particularly interested in small city houses that fit into unusually-sized gaps between other buildings. There is an art to making things fit into confined spaces without them feeling awkward.

Read my architecture articles and learn where my love for architecture originally came from.

Follow my small house architecture pins on Pinterest for more inspiration.

I Love Comics

In 1994, I created my first comic strip, Ogga the Cane Toad, and managed to get it regularly published in two of my local newspapers, The Observer Times, and The Independent in Hervey Bay, QLD, Australia.

I was drawing strips faster than they were being published so I had plenty of time to experiment with other ideas for comics and characters.

Read my comics here:

• Ogga the Cane Toad
• Graeme Frontbum's Pet World
• The Bug Insects
• Soul Search

And learn about the characters:

• Who is Ogga the Cane Toad?
• About Graeme Frontbum

I am a full member of the Australian Cartoonists Association, the oldest cartoonist organization in the world.

I Have Synesthesia

One interesting fact about me is I have a form of grapheme-color synesthesia which is where I see letters and numbers as colors. According to Live Science, this condition is seven times more common in artists.

Learn more about my synesthesia story and discover how synesthesia helps me find four-leaf clovers.