Exhibition Catalog

Michelle Satterllee at the Elliott Fouts Gallery designed the 32-page catalog. I am so pleased with the way it turned out. The 20 paintings for the show are represented. Michelle is a fantastic designer. It is refreshing to have your work handled by someone who knows what they are doing.

Christopher Stott - New Paintings  | June 4-30, 2011
Exhibition catalog available at the Elliott Fouts Gallery

Quartet
24" x 48" | Oil/Canvas | 2011
• Sold

Black Vintage Electric Fan
28" x 22" | Oil/Canvas | 2011
• Sold

The Girl Next Door
20" x 20" | Oil/Canvas | 2011
• Sold

American Art Collector, June 2011

I did an interview with American Art Collector magazine for the June 2011 issue, which is now out. There is a preview of some of the paintings for my show. It's humbling to have my work in the pages of a magazine along with some of my favorite contemporary artists.

American Art Collector , June 2011

Good Times
30" x 30" | Oil/Canvas | 2010
• Sold
• Available as a limited edition print

Baggage
30" x 30" | Oil/Canvas | 2011
• Sold
• Available as a limited edition print

Oliver
30" x 36" | Oil/Canvas | 2011
• Sold

What Next?
20" x 36" | Oil/Canvas | 2010
• Sold

Last of the progress photos...

I have officially completed the 20 paintings for my June show. Between Anthropologie and J.Crew, I honestly didn't think I'd meet my goal. It feels mighty good to have accomplished so much in the last 6 months and I'm looking forward to seeing all the pieces hanging in the gallery.

Another round of progress photos...

Work continues on paintings for my June show and I am happy to report that I am nearing completion. The last four paintings have been conceived, and I have a few precious weeks to finish up the work.

J.Crew

I'm pleased to share the news that five of my paintings, including the two below, now belong to J.Crew's corporate collection.


Someday Soon
30" x 36" | Oil/Canvas | 2010


Remington Standard No. 10, Profile
30" x 36" | Oil/Canvas | 2010

Moving right along...

Over the past several weeks I've been able to complete some paintings that I'm happy with. That's a peculiar thing for me to say.

A few years ago I worked fast, alla prima, completing paintings in only a few quick sittings. Over time, I've found myself slowing down considerably and becoming much more focused. Slowing down has given me the opportunity to approach challenging and highly detailed subjects.

Below are some black and white photos of some of these recent paintings on the easel. As spring rolls along I'll be sharing these in color along with more pieces I've got in the works.

Anthropologie

Recently I had the honor of painting five pieces for Anthropologie.com. They were really cool people to work with and I'm flattered that they enjoyed my work enough to invite me to do some paintings for them. During the week of February 21 - 28, 2011, the paintings were on the landing pages for each department in their online store.




Shoes & Luggage
20" x 30" | Oil/Canvas | 2011
• Sold


At Home - Six Anthropologie Pulls
20" x 30" | Oil/Canvas | 2011

• Sold

Brownie Hawkeye & Necklace
20" x 30" | Oil/Canvas | 2011
• Click here for details


Beauty
20" x 30" | Oil/Canvas | 2011
• Sold


The Green Dress
20" x 30" | Oil/Canvas | 2011
• Sold

Works in Progress

I have a room in my basement where I prep and store canvas, and box up finished paintings before I send them off on their journeys to other lands. Right now it's kind of intimidating walking in to the room because I'm greeted by way to much blank canvas.



Over the next 3.5 months I have to complete at least 15 paintings, and in order to do so I have had to employ serious organizational skills.

Below is a glimpse at one piece in progress, an old Remington No.10 typewriter. Last summer I took my family to visit my grandparents and the town was holding their annual summer festival. They open up the buildings of a heritage village — a collection of buildings, like the old town hall, the doctor's house, blacksmith, church, schoolhouse, etc. — all reassembled to form an idealized main street from the past. In one building they have an old-tech graveyard where heaps of adding machines and typewriters sit abandoned for what will likely be the rest of eternity. That's where I step in. To the confusion and amusement of the committee responsible for the buildings, I convinced them to lend me several pieces, and will likely return again and again.

Happy Busy New Year!

The first half of 2011 is going to be one of the busiest 6 months of my life. I have a stack of commissions I'm working on, many of which I'll share here in a few months, and I'll be working on 20 new paintings for another solo exhibition in June at the EFG.

I'll do the best I can and share some images of work in progress as I go along.

I hope you had a great holiday season and Happy New Year! Now back to work...

William Landay

Writer William Landay recently wrote a blog entry about my work after discovering it on the web. Check it out, I think he does a very good job of capturing my motives as an artist.

1¢ Gumballs

1¢ Gumballs
40" x 30" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold (Collection of J.Crew)

This has been a familiar theme of mine for the last several years. There's something to behold with these large scale bubble gum machines. There's no way you can tell while looking at the 2.5" thumbnail on your computer screen, but this painting is large. The vibrant blue of the machine and the mutli-colored gumballs pull me in.

I can distinctly remember how quickly gum would lose its flavor when I was a kid. But still, seeing a vending machine was always exciting and worth every penny. I guess the best thing about recreating them in paintings is that it helps the flavor last much, much longer in my memory.

Empty Bottles

Five Empty Bottles
20" x 30" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold


Three Empty Bottles
20" x 30" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold (Collection of J.Crew)

Uppercase Magazine

This past August I did an interview for Uppercase Magazine, and the issue (#7) is now available. The magazine features creative professionals from many different backgrounds, and you are bound to learn something new and be impressed and inspired by the image-rich layout and design. It's more like a book than a magazine. And I was excited to participate.

I'm keeping rather busy working on numerous paintings, many of which will be in my June 2011 solo show at the Elliott Fouts Gallery.

A note to anyone interested in the paintings: please contact the gallery — efgallery@sbcglobal.net — to get on their mailing list if you want to see the paintings first. I won't be sharing them until early spring on this blog. However, you can look forward to some in-progress/studio documentation of the pieces in their unfinished stages.

I hope you have a great November!

9:00, 2:00, 5:00 & American Arts Quarterly

9:00, 2:00, 5:00
20" x 36" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold

I'm pleased and honored to share a review of my solo exhibition this past June by American Arts Quarterly. Click here if you are so inclined to give it a read.

Three Vintage Fans & American Art Collector Magazine

Three Vintage Fans
30" x 48" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold

The painting above is one of three that I'll have participating in the upcoming Still Life exhibition in October at the Elliott Fouts Gallery. The show will feature paintings from many artists that I'm familiar with, including; Teresa N. Fischer, Craig Stephens, Katherine Lemke Waste, Derek Gores, Paul Coventry-Brown, Sally Tharp, Philippe Gandiol, Donald Bradford, Daryl Gortner, Neil Hollingsworth, Alvin Richard, Shawn Kenney and Otto Lange.

The show is being promoted in the October 2010 issue of American Art Collector magazine. Click on the bottom image to read the article.

Type A, Type B & Popular Etiquette

I was having a conversation with Cynthia, an art consultant at the Elliott Fouts Gallery, about one of my paintings. Apparently someone was looking at one of my unruly stacks of books and said they'd constantly be compelled to organize the books, straighten them out and make a tidy pile.

I like hearing about how different people interpret my paintings. And the idea occurred to me then to honor different personality types and how they relate to each other and can be integrated in to the same relationship, or paintings, in this case.


Type A, Type B
20" x 36" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold


Type B, Type A
20" x 36" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold
• This painting will be part of the October 2010 Still Life show at the EFG

A good friend of mine brought me an old paperback re-print of a Victorian era Popular Etiquette Book. Leafing through it, I have to say that although there are definitely missing virtues in today's world, Victorian's really made things uncomfortable for themselves with the litany of rigid rules and guidelines to follow.


Popular Etiquette
16" x 20" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold
• This painting will be part of the October 2010 Still Life show at the EFG


Popular Etiquette — Detail

40 & Under

The 40 & Under show is up at the Elliott Fouts Gallery and runs until September 3. If you're in the Sacramento area, be sure to check it out. There are some great artists participating and I'm honored to be sharing the gallery space with them.

I've been trying to balance working in the studio and enjoying the summer. Every other week we're out visiting family, going to weddings, the lake, the park or pool all day long... every year that's a serious challenge for me as I'm always excited and anxious to keep things burning along on the easel. Breaks are needed of course, it's the frequency that drives me a bit nuts.

It's what's inside that counts.

It's what's inside that counts.
30" x 24" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold

This is the third piece of three that will be showing in the group show 40 & Under at the Elliott Fouts Gallery from August 7 - September 3, 2010.

I've had these gumball machines for years, sitting in the studio. Initially I bought only a small amount of gum because, well, it's intimidating thinking of painting them full. It's a small form of torture for my kids. Gumball machines high on a shelf, being told "you can't eat dad's work". So the gum became stale and dusty.

Until I decided to paint this piece and I needed more gum to fill the small blue machine. I took the machines down from the shelf and since I now had a surplus of gum and a surplus of pennies, I let the kids at it. They kept returning to the studio, within minutes of their last purchase, to let me know that they either dropped their gum or it ran out of flavor. Or that they got two purple ones in a row and were hoping for an orange so, here we go again.

Upcoming Group Show - "40 & Under"

I will have three new paintings in the August group show at the Elliott Fouts Gallery. The show, entitled 40 & Under, is showcasing artists who are, well, either 40-years-old or younger. I'm really excited to have some paintings hanging in the show.

Below are two of the three, the third piece I'll share a little closer to August.


Soda Pop Bottles
18" x 14" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold (Collection of J.Crew)


Pencils, Crayons, & Pen
18" x 14" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold

Return to the Studio

I had a great time in California. The gallery hosts fantastic receptions with live music and friendly faces all around. The best part, as the artist, is to meet with people who collect your paintings. Cynthia, Michelle and Elliott at the Elliott Fouts Gallery are as thrilled with the results as I am, I'm sure. I really am fortunate to have had a successful first official solo exhibition.

But now my break is over and this morning I was back at it in the studio with headphones in place, paint squeezed out and daunting canvas staring me in the face.

Travel

Six Pieces of Luggage
20" x 36" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold


Bartlett Pear & Grapes
12" x 24" — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold

I'm packing my bags and heading to Sacramento for the opening reception of my solo show. The reception is on Saturday, June 12 from 6:00pm - 9:00pm. If you cannot make it to the reception, you could always watch the action through a satellite view on Google Maps. ;-)

I'm looking forward to my trip, seeing my paintings again after sending them off over the last several months, and checking out wine country on a sunny warm weekend.


View Larger Map

A Video & Slide Show

Here is a short two-and-a-half minute video that I made showcasing a few of 33 paintings that I have currently showing at the Elliott Fouts Gallery (click here for an external link to the video).

If you follow this blog regularly you'll know that this exhibition is something I have been working pretty hard on for the last 6 - 7 months. It really is a great pleasure to see the "June 5" date arrive and having a satisfied feeling with the accomplishment.



Lastly, here is a slide show of all the paintings (click here for an external link to the slide show).