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| TG at home. |
Peathead: How
would you describe your art?
Trevor Gordon: A bit folksy. Colorful,
textured, simple. I try to paint or draw people in ordinary moments and natural
situations, like a man sitting on a porch, playing guitar, or a lady stoking a
campfire.
What's your
process like when you create art? Do you ever sketch stuff and then make it, or
do you work more spontaneously and build as you go? How does it happen for you?
I usually start painting
spontaneously. Sometimes I’ll wake up in the night and have to start a painting
so I don’t forget it by morning. Other times I will be listening to a song and
something will pop into my head, and if I can, I will start painting something
right then. More often than not, I’ll end up painting over the original idea,
but it’s the initial moment of starting the painting that is hardest. My style
is very quick — I can’t stand waiting for the paint to dry or washing the
brushes, so I end up painting with my fingers on top of wet paint. I guess that
can add to it, sometimes, but it can also screw it up.
What have
you been thinking about lately that has influenced and inspired your new work?
Do you draw on personal experiences or on things happening in your environment?
Last October, I was in Canada and I
went crazy filling up notebooks with drawings of mythical creatures, pictures
of people, and objects I saw. While there, someone said that the drawings
reminded them of the Inuit art style. When I got home, I bought a few books on
the subject and got really inspired from them. They seemed to just focus on
super simple objects of everyday Eskimo life, with a really unique, exaggerated
style. I prefer to draw things that aren’t necessarily going on around me —rather
just spontaneous ideas, subjects, or themes. However, while traveling, I
usually draw what’s on my mind or things I’ve seen.
Farm animals
play a theme in your newer work. Why is that? Do you think it is easier to
explore themes with animals than humans?
I’ve always been fascinated with farm
life and that whole way of living. Although Santa Barbara is really ocean-based,
there are a lot of ranches and farms surrounding it, so it’s easy to get
inspired. Lately I’ve had a lot of fun with drawing portraits of animals. I can’t
say exactly why — it’s just what is coming out at the moment.
Can you tell
me about your upbringing and artistic background and how you have developed in
style and technique over the years?
My parents both share an artistic
eye. My dad went to Brooks for filmmaking and my mom used to design, sew, and
sell her own line of children’s clothes. I guess some of that appreciation for
design and attention to detail has rubbed off a bit on me, so much so that I
sometimes have to step back from tending to the details in order to care less
to get to where I want a painting to be. Like most kids, I grew up doodling in
sketchbooks during school. I didn’t start really taking art seriously until
high school, where I mainly focused on super detailed abstract drawings. Pens
and pencil, mostly. It wasn’t until a few years ago when I starting to do bigger-scale
paintings. I spent a lot of time experimenting with techniques and making tons
of art and appreciating all types of it. My style has evolved through little
breakthroughs in technique that I follow for a while until I grow bored and
start experimenting again. But they all share a common theme.
Talk about your relationship with Santa Barbara.
I love Santa Barbara and the variety
it has. The city is so close to amazing backcountry, perfect waves, and the
Channel Islands. Sometimes the amount of people can become overwhelming, so I
try and travel as much as possible. It’s the best feeling coming home to a
place like Santa Barbara, though, because it’s a really comforting place. It
feels nestled into California’s coast.
What is the
connection between surfing and art?
Not a whole lot, to be honest. Not
sure why that is. I just have never gotten into surf art. I appreciate it but
I’ve always found it a bit cheesy to actually perform. Maybe the fact that I
surf so much as it is why my art focuses on more of a land lifestyle theme.
If you
decided, or were forced by circumstances to stop making art tomorrow, where
would you focus your creative energy?
I would for sure focus all energy on music. I try
to play music as much as possible as it is, but if I were forced into exiling my
art, I’d have the energy to get over that lazy lump of actually learning to
play well.
Where would
you like to take your art in the future?
I hope to have the ability to get to
a stage where I can have a proper studio and paint as much as possible.
Do you care
where your art ends up? How has the world seen it so far?
Of course I’d like to see my art
represented positively. I have been in a few art shows
and have had some of my own over the last year or two that were really
successful. Patagonia will be having some of my art on several T-shirts in the
near future, and I’ve also made a few hand painted shirts, which I hope to
expand on. People can also check out my website (trevorgordonarts.com), where you can find recent works.