By Christopher

Christopher Stott is a contemporary realist painter.

Work in Progress

Vintage Alarm Clocks Painting in Progress by Christopher Stott
Vintage Alarm Clocks / Work in Progress

Oh, summer. You make it so hard to stay focussed in the studio. The lure of the sunny beaches and trails to explore. Please grant me a few overcast or rainy days so I can lock myself in the studio for a few hours to finish these paintings.

Vintage Alarm Clock Painting in Progress
Vintage Alarm Clock / Work in Progress

Once these two paintings are complete, they’ll be heading to the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California.

Vintage Film Projectors

Amaro 16MM Film Projector Oil Painting by Christopher Stott
Ampro 16MM Projector / 30 x 30 / oil on canvas

Last year I started painting film projectors after years of seeing them in vintage and antique stores. They have all the trappings of a subject I like to paint.

Revere 16MM Film Projector Oil Painting by Christopher Stott
Revere 16MM Projector / 40 x 30 / oil on canvas

The reels all have these unique designs. The repeating pie shapes, the circular repetition, the repeating lines on the lamp housing.

Keystone 8MM Film Projector by Christopher Stott
Keystone 8MM Projector / 30 x 30 / oil on canvas

The dials, knobs, levers, switches, gears, springs and buttons give the paintings a tactile sensation.

Rows and Stacks of Cameras

Four Vintage Cameras Oil Painting by Christopher Stott
Four Vintage Cameras / 20 x 40 / oil on canvas

This will sound sentimental, but who cares. I like the thought of how exciting these cameras would have been to a kid who received it as a gift. Back when photography took time, it would have seemed magic. I like the thought that these lenses were the eyes on so many events.

Ten Vintage Cameras Oil Painting by Christopher Stott
Ten Vintage Cameras / 24 x 36 / oil on canvas

And then there is the fact I can present these objects in such an orderly way. The four cameras are all 3/4 turned, facing to the right. These black cubes, such simple shapes, with the circular flash from the unique Spartus camera. The stack of ten cameras makes a small architectural structure, each with a different facade. The box cameras with their shining brass art deco designs, the different materials used. Composing the cameras this way adds a structure and order.

The materials, their designs, the history and story, their utility as image making tools, cameras are deserving of a portrait.

I have been painting cameras for well over a decade. You can see 40 paintings of cameras I’ve done on good old Flickr.

As with many of my recent paintings, the subjects were found at Everything Old in Brentwood Bay on Vancouver Island.