Photo courtesy of Taylor Paladino.
Having grown up in Arkansas, Ben Paladino didn’t really know anyone in Dallas, where he had a summer internship after he graduated from high school. After work each day, he didn’t have anything to do, and he figured watching Netflix probably wasn’t the best use of his time. So he took up watercolor.
“I started painting as a way to relax and kind of get through some of the emotional stuff I was dealing with,” said Paladino, who had spent his early years, including in high school, hiding the fact that he was gay from everyone around him.
Watercolor seemed to be easy for him to master. Plus it was quick, which catered to his short attention span. And it has what he calls a “defined stopping point.” There’s a limit to how much water can be added to a piece of paper before the paper starts to get gross and the colors start to muddle.
His godparents in Dallas, whom he was living with, suggested he make greeting cards with his designs.
He had sold a few paintings to family friends, but that was the extent of the business until neighborhood gift shop Talulah & Hess agreed to carry some of the cards.
“It was very much hobby business at that point,” he said. “Very much like hobby, side hustle, cute little thing I did on the side while I was studying. So the business kind of blew up and kind of really became something a little bit more real during the pandemic.”
Paladino decided to take some time off school in 2020, not wanting to do virtual classes at Stanford University. He moved back to Dallas and started taking his products to the Dallas Farmers Market each weekend.
About 1 1/2 years ago, he returned to Stanford to finish his classes, graduating in June 2022.
Now, he’s running his business, Taylor Paladino, full time from Lakewood. The company name comes from the last names of Paladino, who’s 24 years old, and his godfather, who helps manage the company.
Taylor Paladino started with paper products such as greeting cards and notepads, printing Paladino’s colorful, clean designs on them. In 2020, the company started making coasters and has since expanded to frosted cups, acrylic trays, coasters, calendars and holiday items such as wrapping paper. In the future, Paladino has plans to sell wallpaper, too.
It takes him about an hour to create his designs, which are then printed onto items.
“Stylistically, I try to be really clean in my art and really bright but not busy,” he said. “But then I think, on a more personal note, I really want to do something that makes people happy and trying to connect with the people I meet.”
Inspiration for designs comes from his interests in the beach and florals, along with cultural icons, such as a longhorn or the Texas flag.
“When somebody sees my art on a greeting card or whatever it is, and it brings a smile to their face, if it’s something that reminds them of their mother, or it’s a fun Texas icon that they remember from their childhood, or even if it’s a longhorn and they went to U.T., it brings a smile to their face. And that makes me really happy,” Paladino said. “And that’s really what I’m in it for.”
Taylor Paladino products are sold at Talulah & Hess, along with other Dallas gift shops including Paper Affair, Swoozie’s, Needle in a Haystack and Interabang Books. Since 2021, the items have been sold at The Container Store.
Ben Paladino and his godfather. Photo courtesy of Taylor Paladino.
