Get to Know: Chris Austin

In anticipation of this week's print release, we sat down with artist Chris Austin to learn a bit more about him:

Where were you born and where are you now?

I was born an hour west of Toronto, Canada  in a smaller city by the name of Kitchener, and I’ve been living in Toronto proper for the past 7 years.....and soon to be living in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

What are your first artistic memories?

I’ve always dabbled in some sort of artistic practice, since I can remember......I think the first memories were with macaroni and glue, haha.

Have you always been drawn to the same subject matter or was your earlier work different?

My work has evolved and changed over the years, however my current body of work has been revisited from a concept I came up with about a decade ago.

Could you tell us a bit about your release with us this week, "Light Even in The Darkest of Places?"

With this particular painting, I wanted to leave it open ended to the viewer and I’ve received so many different interpretations... The shark has always been one of the most fearful things on the planet and I’d like to help change that perspective by introducing them into familiar recognizable scenarios.

What's a typical day in the studio like for you?

When I’m not busy painting for an exhibit, I write down ideas and sketch preliminary versions of something I’d like to paint.

What's the most difficult and most rewarding parts of creating for you?

There’s so many struggles and difficulties for me, however, I’d say coming up with something original is the hardest… And it’s rewarding when I can sit back and be proud of a finished piece.

What do you get up to when you're not creating?

When I’m not creating, I play with my dog Winston, and I like to run.  I love the freedom and being able to shut off everything and just run.

What can we look forward to from you in 2020?

I’m in the process of renovating an older house in the Hamilton area and with that will come a brand new home studio! So that will be delightful… Next solo exhibit is with Outré Gallery in Australia in October 2020.

"Light Even in the Darkest of Places" will be released Thursday, December 19th at 1PM PST.