“This is a collection of paintings from my imagination mixed with inspiration I’ve gathered in the natural world. My art is influenced through skateboarding, traveling, and the different personalities I meet along the way.  Most of what you see was done with acrylic paint on found canvas. Painting forces me to let go of micro details that often drive me nuts, thanks to the meticulous skateboarder side of my brain that strives for perfection. Sure, I could use finer paint or thinner brushes, but it’s the messy imperfections that make it more fun and real.  I use painting as a creative outlet to let my mind wander and build off imaginative thoughts- in a space where precision doesn’t matter. Sometimes, it begins with pushing paint around until my mind starts forming shapes into images. I lean toward bright colors and blue skin tones. Maybe there’s a planet out there full of blue people that I lived on in a past life, and this is my way of reminiscing. Or maybe I just get bored of reality. “

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Chris Colbourn (b. 1991) was born and raised in Vermont. After high school, Colbourn moved to Los Angeles, CA, to pursue his passion for a career in skateboarding. While traveling the world with his skateboard, he earned an AA in Graphic Design. He excels at drawing and painting by hand; Colbourn loves using technology to expand his style and skills. His work has been shown around the U.S., including numerous exhibitions for Mountain Dew at Coachella (2017) and Dew Tour Long Beach (2019), a solo show at Uncommon Grounds in Burlington, Vermont (2019) to celebrate turning professional for Element Skateboards, where he went on to design his own board graphics and two apparel collections before parting ways to ride for Worble, a Vermont-rooted skate crew based in Los Angeles. He has also begun curating annual art fundraisers for Chill Foundation in Los Angeles (2022, 2023), was recently in a group show in Oceanside, “Collaboration” (2024), and had an editorial feature in Thrasher Magazine’s “Canvas” (May 2024). Colbourn’s art has also found its way onto signature products and video projects for companies that support him: Worble, Bronson Speed Co, Independent Trucks, Pepper Grip, Sleepwalk Ltd, Uncommon Coffee, Talent Skatepark, New Balance Numeric, as well as magazine advertisements, animations, and apparel. Colbourn currently lives and works in San Diego, CA.

Using a chainsaw, Derbes first cuts blocks of wood from a variety of tree species, including elm, poplar, and maple. Continuing to carve each block into a unique and dynamic shape, he meticulously chisels, paints, sands, and burnishes each piece in order to achieve a variety of complex geometric visual systems, planes, patterns, and patinas. With a palette that ranges from vibrantly rich jewel tones to subdued neutrals, Derbes uses pattern, shape, and shifts of scale to playfully and unexpectedly alter perspective and space.

This body of work is the artists’ homage to skateboarding and the architectural features that skateboarding utilizes. Colorful grids, fields, and bands adorn the surfaces of these tromp l’oeil objects, shaped paintings and sculptures.  Function, however, gives way to fanciful abstraction. In several pieces, the ramp/bank/box/steps only serve to anchor the form to the earth, then yield to the growth of connected forms, hinting at the artist’s practice of abstraction.

Inspired by farm stands and roadside sellers, Clark fabricated an ‘art farm-stand at the end of his (rural) driveway where he regularly displays (and posts/sells through social media) recently completed artworks of a wide variety of styles, genres and mediums. What began as a semi-serious business experiment quickly became a focus in the artist’s career. This practice of tending the farm stand ensures and encourages a fast-paced studio environment of constant experimentation.

Known nationally for his sensual figurative paintings Bill Brauer grew up in Queens, New York knowing from an early inspiration that he would be an artist. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York and was a protégé of renowned surrealist painter, Federico Castellón. 

Brauer’s first years as an artist were as a successful illustrator where competition pushed him to rigorously apply his intellect and imagination to his work. He continued to use the design concepts he learned as an illustrator throughout the remainder of his career. In the early 1960s, Brauer became involved in printmaking. His first major show was in 1974, with the Associated American Artists New Talent in Printmaking exhibition. From this starting point, he gained increasing acclaim. His work was selected for the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum and was featured in the 19th Annual Print Exhibition. In 1976 he received an individual grant from the Vermont Council of the Arts. Having long harbored the deep desire to be a serious painter, Brauer began to concentrate exclusively on painting. By the late 1980s, his work had won mounting success and was exhibited extensively across the United States in both solo and group exhibitions.

Brauer’s paintings are highly evocative and moody, with deep intense colors and beautifully rendered curves of fabric or human forms. His works depict women and are often suggestive of a charged and compelling narrative. The pieces are usually illuminated by a single light source, which cast long translucent shadows that seem to take on a presence of their own, adding yet another layer of mystery.

Bill Brauer was one of Vermont’s most successful artists; highly popular with private collectors around the globe.  He was also a gifted and generous teacher who enjoyed helping others become better artists. He taught classes at The University of Vermont, Goddard College, and Vermont College and, for 40 years, inspired numerous students in a weekly private life drawing class.

Jackson Tupper has always preferred a homey existence retreated in his own bubble––a world in lockdown just made it socially acceptable to immerse himself fully into that comfort zone. In his new paintings, Jackson fixates on the shapes and rhythms that build the picture of his domestic oasis. He illustrates his world where isolation offers freedom to be absorbed by compulsions, where monotony and routines are sources of inspiration, and where ordinary objects and activities are given significance to reflect his identity.

“Crew Neck” introduces new artwork from 12 artists using t-shirts as their canvas. Artists (all of whom have a connection to the city and community of Burlington) include: Annemarie Buckley, Noah Butkus, Aaron Draplin, Cody Hudson, Marin Horikawa, Scott Lenhardt, Sarah Letteney, Zak Jensen, Byron O’Neill, Tyler Stout, Jackson Tupper, and Ty Williams. The intention of the show is to narrow the gap between audience and artist. We treat t-shirts as a canvas to create approachable art that speaks to many different groups of people. A limited number of t-shirts will be available. Pre-sale will ‪start November 15 at our online store.

Proceeds from this show will be used to provide art classes for children, our next generation of artists. Classes will concentrate on teaching kids creative-thinking skills and techniques. We will work closely with local professional artists to provide these classes. Please sign up for Safe and Sound’s newsletter for updates.

Garrett Morin (b. 1980), graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and currently lives and works in New York. Garrett takes his cues from fantasy-based genres like horror and metal, through which lifeʼs “uglier” subjects become parody. He uses his work as a means of world building or more plainly, paints the things he would like to see.

Garett Morinʼs first solo exhibition took place at the Ace Hotel NY on October 2018 entitled “You Have Been Expected and are Welcome in My Castle”.

For Crowd Sorcery Morin draws inspiration from Neolithic structures known as passage graves, or portal dolmens, monuments to the dead set amongst an overgrown terrain. His soft palette and chosen medium of pastel casts a powdery fog, masking darker themes with playful video-game-like mysticism. The work invites the viewer to trip through a brighter, naturalistic version of the underworld; to wade past wildflowers over stone, collect artifacts, and meet its long silent inhabitants.