CHRIS MYOTT
Chris Myott is a professional artist & furniture maker from New Hampshire with an obsession for petrol, motorcycles, and rust. He epitomises the notion of being a Pioneer and was the perfect pick for our latest Abstracts project.Â
We reached out to Chris and asked him to take our Green carver and put his own spin on it. The results are super cool and encompass the concept of Juxtaposition beautifully - Taking a completely man made object and aligning it with something natural that has it’s life and evolutionary cycle.Â
Hear what Chris had to say… Â
Juxtaposition is a theme in my paintings, because to me it represents balance, which is something I constantly strive for in my art and in my life. For the &Sons' "Abstracts" series I decided to paint a hand tool and a wildflower on the back of an olive drab chore jacket. The hand tool is something completely man made, manipulated to rest naturally in our fingers, and is evidence of our craft and creativity. The wildflower is something unmanipulated, taking its own shape and evolving at its own pace, alien and undisturbed by man. Both are beautiful, indirect reflections of their surroundings.Â
To create the artwork I used the same process I use for my paintings: I lay down a smooth base of oil paint, and after it dries I coat it with a second color that I carve through while the paint is wet, drawing out the image. This process lets me retain the same energy that’s in my sketches: an unedited drawing, like a signature. The painting process is much more difficult on a fabric jacket than it is on panel. The first layer of paint has to be perfectly smooth in order to draw through the second layer and have a clean line, which required me putting down multiple layers and even sanding paint to mimic my usual technique while trying not to stain or destroy the unpainted parts of the jacket. It was a lot of work and preparation for a simple, gestural drawing, but to me that’s part of the understated beauty, and why I’m so in love with the process.Â