Found Objects, New Abstract, Clothing Line Coming to an End... Season in Review

Hammer Piercing Architecture 
Causing it to Leak Pigment

While cleaning my studio this week I came across many forgotten pieces of work that were undocumented and not categorized, some aren't exactly intentional art... more like the product of daydreaming.  

I often doodle with latex paint, putting it in Pepsi bottles and squirting it all over an object or carving, making a shell over a piece of architecture and a piece of wood forever binding them together.  Carving forms and using canvas like they are tissues while I am dreaming, I never hesitate to break a brick, or acquire a shape I need to dream about... see what it will look like.  In my studio the tools and the magic are all around me!

(Closeup) Hammer Piercing Architecture
Causing it to Leak Pigment 

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Recently I have come to a strange realization that as an artist I am able to carve any form, put any image onto a canvas, this suddenly feels like a tremendous pressure instead of a joy.  Being able to do anything can be so overwhelming that one ends up doing nothing, many artists suffer from this idea and the creation of their work suffers. Fortunately it can be turned around with some meditation to slow down the ideas and pick through them in a mindful way, in my older age I have come to realize that I am only human, the art sustains me but I must do my job to nurture myself as well.

Made myself some new shoes along the way!

I have decided to finish the clothing line, it has been great fun giving you all this mark to wear, I am proud of each and every one I make.  This line will be available until Nov 1st 2019

Collision Clothing Line is Still Available Until Nov 1 2019

Shop the Clothing Line / Learn More

This week I created another extra large sledgehammer abstract, capturing that perfect moment with the most permanent of polymers.  I stand in awe of this new work, the result is a giant painting that is nothing less than cathartic.

This Abstract is One Sledgehammer Hit

Explosion in Red | 2019

I have recently been able to source different sorts of latex paint, interior, exterior, etc... "Off colors" sold at a local hardware store, it has been my saving grace.  I have completely switched from traditional acrylic; I am convinced it is the most beautiful and colorfast paint available.  I love how pouring it over different shapes gives them a tough shell; it mummifies them and gives them a state of permanence.

Several items I have mummified with paint others are drying, this is the ongoing inspiration for my architecture series

Detail of painting I doodled on for the month of September.
Pouring, dripping, squirting, and brushing paint on top of paint.  
Everything does something for the eye!

In early September I slammed my 8 lbs sledgehammer down and created another series; this idea has two sides.  The end loaded with paint, as I usually do when starting a new work, I forgot what I had underneath and broke a large granite tile.  The shape of the break astonished me, it was so beautiful, almost perfect, I became fascinated; it ended up changing my perspective on the mark I create, it was the pause between piano notes, the other part of the story behind the force had to be told.  I dreamed of more and more possibilities...  the paint mark I created in the beginning with my sledgehammer was just a start.  I thought of the tile underneath as a type of film recording the "negative" image/impact of my painting like traditional photography, it tells a story I had never dreamed of before.  I instinctively grabbed a can of latex paint and poured it over the broken granite tile, covering it completely...  also covering the piece of wood underneath it freezing the moment in time.

This experimental side project soon became my main focus and the birth of a new series.  The sense of permanence I have achieved using latex house paint poured on architectural elements is a perfect arena to explore the forcefulness of the sledgehammer and continue this journey.  

The discovery of a "negative mark" created by my sledgehammer has just recently sparked what I call: 

Smashed Through The Other Side: The Reverse Sledgehammer Mark Series

I am so excited to share my new ideas with you.

These works go on sale on Oct 11 2019 and the collection will remain on Saatchiart.com as an ongoing series with lots of updates!

Shop the Collection Now - Learn More

Accidental Break to a Slab of Granite, sometimes I think of my Sledgehammer
has a superpower, perfection every time!

Thanks for reading! 
I will post again around this time next month with some more exciting projects that I have in the works.  I plan on surprising you further each month, sounds impossible but stick with me, I promise this adventure will only get more interesting.  Have a safe time, take care of your loved ones, and most importantly yourself, enjoy the present moment whenever you can and dream big dreams, they can happen!

Best,

Chris Crewe | October 2019

Smashed Through The Other Side: The Reverse Mark Series | Sept/Oct 2019

Smashed Through The Other Side: The Reverse Mark Series | Sept/Oct 2019

Smashed Through The Other Side: The Reverse Mark Series | Sept/Oct 2019

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Check Chris out on Creative Mornings 2019!