Trash day, Chicago, Illinois.
A van painted in flowers and intriguing shapes creeps down an alley past a trash pile. The van stops, backs up and stops at the trash pile. Out of the van pops Jennifer Taylor.
So opens The Makeover Adventures of Jennifer Taylor—a television series like you’ve never seen before. Never, because you’ve never met Jennifer Taylor. She’s an artist, actor and yes, just a little bit nutty.
The show blends the reality, makeover and do-it-yourself genres to create a fresh and original television show that also drives viewers to the web.
Each episode of The Makeover Adventures of Jennifer Taylor centers around one of Jennifer’s makeover projects. Maybe it’s the restoration of a piece of furniture she’s rescued from the dumpster. Maybe she’s called by a homeowner to install a hand-painted floor. Maybe it’s something commissioned by a local business. Maybe we see Jennifer work with another makeover artist to learn their techniques.
Whatever the project, we follow Jennifer’s whacky quest from beginning to end to make someone’s life a little more beautiful.
Sample program topics
If you think you've seen Jennifer Joan Taylor before it's because you have. She played Stacy Keach's secretary in the first season of Prison Break. Soap fans remember her as detective Chris Egan in the Edge of Night. She appeared along side Clive Owen in Drerailed. And she's appeared in countless commercials and on stage. And she's also an accomplished artist. What began as a hobby has blossomed into a successful career as painter of both impressionistic, free flowing canvasses and home furnishings, many rescued from dumpsters around Chicago. “I am an untrained artist,” says Jennifer from The Painted Board Studio in Chicago’s west side suburb of Forest Park.
“In 1985 my husband gave me some paints and canvas as a gift and I’ve been painting ever since. My canvas works, painted in bold oil colors, tell stories of characters living just on the edge of life in slightly humorous ways and have been represented by Portals and Thomas Masters galleries in Chicago.”
Jennifer’s furniture painting stems from her belief in recycling as well as the challenge of finding a design that is suitable to the piece.
“I do my best furniture shopping on trash days. Too often furniture is thrown out not because it isn’t functional and still sturdy but simply because it has become ugly on the surface and not valuable enough to restore. Paint then becomes the perfect solution. From a distressed look to a multi-layered painterly design, the choices can be personal and endless.”
Jen's credits
Feature film
DeRailed
Weatherman
The Misanthrope
The Crude Oasis
Casualties
In the Company of Darkness
Fright Night II
Television
Prison Break
Early Edition
Missing Persons
The Untouchables
The Human Factor
Bob Newhart
Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
Shelly Duvall’s Tall Tales
The Edge of Night
© 2009 Triangle Media Works, LLC
