December | 2016 | Christopher Stott

From December 2016

2016

Month to month, day to day, I spend all my time immersed in my paintings. Each painting takes such a great deal of effort and concentration that I often lose sight of the big picture, literally focussing on only small areas, both in life and the paintings.

Taking some time now to step back and look at 2016 I can see it was a very productive year for me. I count 44 paintings that I completed. That took me by surprise. I have been busy.

Over the past year I have had the good fortune of adding JJ Abrams, Bill Prady and others in the Hollywood area to the list of my collectors.

I have some big goals for 2017 that will keep me focussed in my studio. It’s good to have something to keep oneself occupied. Otherwise you might get distracted by fake news, drowning in social media, macho world leaders Tweeting about nuclear weapons, untimely celebrity deaths, etc., etc. I think I’ll just retreat to painting to see if I can find some joy in the world.

My resolution for 2017 is simple; I’ll remind myself to step back once in a while to see the big picture and gain some perspective. Read more

Corona in Progress

Corona Typewriter Painting Work in Progress by Christopher Stott — Corona / Work in Progress

I have used this vintage Corona No. 3 typewriter in the past – but nothing gives new life to a subject like a wall of beautifully vibrant colour.

Eight Penguin Classics

Many of these Penguin Classics are the books that you should have read when you were in your teens, but probably wouldn’t have understood fully until you were in your thirties. It is available through the Elliott Fouts Gallery.

Giving these books a try early on in life is good but I have personally found that revisiting them later makes them way more relevant. These books are written by people who had a full spectrum of experiences and knowledge and I am only now finding that I understand where they come from. Read more

The Way To Win

I found this book, The Way To Win, and had to add it to my little late 19th Century library of books that reveal the way our people were thinking just over 100 years ago. The book is a very detailed, very long self-help style book from a John T. Dale.

The Way To Win Book I Painting by Christopher Stott — The Way To Win I / 18 x 36 / oil on canvas

After browsing through the chapters, I’m left to wonder if anyone who picked up the book in 1891 found success as they went chapter by chapter and tried to structure a meaningful, successful life.

The thing that I find interesting is how this book reads and seems so much like modern-day self help. It’s all here, published 125 years ago. You can find all of this being self-published on countless blogs or YouTube channels today. I wonder if John T. Dale would have found an audience if he was one of those numbers today?