Christopher Clark : Painter of Memories

"Painter of Memories" is an apt description for the art of Christopher Clark. His art brings emotion and feeling to life. One can feel the breeze when viewing his image, here. One can taste the sand, and feel the warmth of the sun. This is talent, my friends, to be able to interpret the event, memory, in a way that allows the viewer to experience it... even when it is not their memory that inspired the original painting. Come, learn about Mr. Clark, and his talent and thoughts on his own art and the art world, as it relates to the community.

I've been an artist as long as I can remember, from when I was very little. I remember watching Bob Ross on public access TV (the painter with the big affro who painted "happy little trees") and mimicking him with crayons and paper. I've had an affinity with art literally my entire life (33 years at this point), and for much of that I've had the aspirations to do it as my main career. Even at my current "day job," I'm a successful digital graphic artist and interactive media developer, though I made the ultimate decision to become a full-time fine artist December of 2010 and ever since have been ravenously striving to make that a reality.

Probably some crap crayon drawing as a toddler, who knows :) Actually my mom would know, and she probably still has it, I should ask her.

I did a portrait of a dear friend of mine who was, at the time, my teacher of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which I studied for about four years. It's a graphite portrait of him holding his newborn daughter. This was featured in an art show at the Huntington Beach Art Center, in 2005. Click Here to see some of my earlier work. Feel free to have a look around.

My current daily routine involves a 50 hour work week as a graphic designer and all the fabulous accoutrements and boredom of "Corporate America," as I'm not yet a full-time fine artist. Much of my art is created late at night or on weekends. I'm so obsessed with creating art that I built a small pochade box (a portable art studio that holds wet canvases) and I paint little 8x10" paintings on my lunch breaks at work. Due to this accessibility, I've introduced myself to the endearing new phenomenon of "Daily Painting."

I sell my art exclusively, direct to my clients, whether it's at my website (please see link below) and my Etsy store (also linked). [I also sell] through personal interaction and word of mouth. I somewhat disapprove of the high-end art gallery industry, as I think it turns art into a luxury commodity rather than a beauty that all people can enjoy. With gallery commissions of 50% and, absurdly, sometimes higher, this effectively doubles what an artist has to charge for his work to receive the same compensation. A chord is struck in me with the words of the rogue graffiti artist Banksy: "When you go to an art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires." I sell direct to my clients because I set the price, and I do my best to make my art accessible to regular folks.

I take a person's favorite idea or concept or memory or event and turn it into a real tangible thing that they can see with their own eyes. That's where I got the self-coined term "Painter of Memories." There are always paintings I do just to add to my general inventory of available work.

My plans are simple: Paint enough to pay all the bills with some extra (i.e. not a "starving artist" or a "part-time bartender"). I'm working on a few commission paintings for some clients/friends, and I'm often told later, by my clients, that my painting is like a living memory they can relive over and over again. Quite touching, actually. I take a person's favorite idea or concept or memory or event and turn it into a real tangible thing that they can see with their own eyes. That's where I got the self-coined term "Painter of Memories." There are always paintings I do just to add to my general inventory of available work.

I very often film myself painting and make them into timelapse videos, which are posted on my YouTube channel (see below link).

In the words of Christopher Clark, from his website, "I love capturing the drama of an everyday moment that could have happened down the street from my house, or on the shore of a vast foreign continent. I try to make each one of my works a living memory to share with others. Pouring these stories into a single painting is both exhilarating and heartbreaking. But I guess that’s what happens when you open yourself up to the world."
Connecting with Christopher Clark :
	Artist Site :	www.ChristopherClark.com
	Etsy :	etsy.com/shop/ChristopherClarkArt
	FB Page :	facebook.com/ChristopherClarkArt
	Twitter :	twitter.com/chrisclarkart
	YouTube :	youtube.com/christopherclarkart
	Flickr :	flickr.com/christopherclarkart