Tagged electric fan

Electric Fan & Red Books

Electric Fan & Red Books by Christopher Stott
Electric Fan & Red Books / 24 x 18 / oil on canvas / 2017

This painting is at the George Billis Gallery in New York. It’s another in a series of paintings I have been doing by revisiting my portfolio and applying a new technique to subjects I have painted in the past 17 years.

Electric Fan / 12 x 12 / acrylic on canvas / 2004

The first time I painted a fan, I had a quick technique and was finished the painting in a few hours.

I think being a young father with a 2-year-old son and a 3-month-old daughter may have had something to do with how little time I had to paint. We had also just moved in to a new house that needed major work and I had a job at a university.

I have distinct memories of feeling this crunch of getting a painting done, racing to the finish line, before my son woke up from a nap. I also painted in the evenings for several years, tired and beleaguered.

I am completely on the other side now. Teenaged kids who require no nap times and they occupy themselves marvellously. I left my job and paint full time in a house that needs no work. Goals achieved. I have the next several decades (hopefully) to paint uninterrupted.

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The Fans

Two Vintage Electric Fans 20" x 24" — Oil/Canvas — 2009
Two Vintage Electric Fans
20″ x 24″ — Oil/Canvas — 2009

It turns out I have an interest in industrial design. And nostalgia. And strong geometric shapes. And icons and symbols found in everyday objects. The interests manifest themselves in paintings. Paintings that are done with a slight lean on old masters painting techniques with an emphasis on how that light falls on these objects. Recently that light has been the dependable light from a north-facing window in my house.

Vintage Electric Fan, Three Glasses of Water 30" x 36" — Oil/Canvas — 2009
Vintage Electric Fan, Three Glasses of Water
30″ x 36″ — Oil/Canvas — 2009

Painting in Progress: A Big Fan

I’m working on a variation of the vintage electric fan. I’ve added a few more shapes to the composition and will be adding several layers of glazes focusing on the surface of the glasses and fan. Fascinating, huh? If you want to see some simply beautiful still life with geometric shapes, check out the work of Volkert Olij.

After this piece, I’m going to be working smaller. When I started this fan, I thought it would be easier than the typewriter, but the truth is the typewriter has so many tiny little details that you can sort of wing it.

WIP-fan-1

WIP-fan-2

Candle Stick Phone & Electric Fan

24 x 24 / oil on canvas / 2009
24 x 24 / oil on canvas / 2009

Today a friend asked me “what’s new?” Ever sit there with a blank stare on your face when someone asks you that? That’s what I did. Then I thought about the “newness” in my life and realized that I’m focused on my work, and although that seems like nothing new to me, it’s new to the person you’re talking to. I’ve got the exhibition in June, which means I’ve got until mid-May to create some newness.

I’m sure that February, March and April will move fast. The work I’ll be doing will be larger, not going under say 20″ or 24″ in size. I’ve come to terms that this is around the size I work best in. It’s comfortable. The smaller I go, the more I struggle.