Southern Comfort
Recently we had a chance to speak with artist and fellow waterman Gaston Locklear, about his work, inspiration and his “EatSleepWorkSurf ethic”.
DS: So give us a little background on how you started working as an artist.
GL: I went to college and got a degree in graphic design. I was a huge fan of David Carson’s work, but the chances of finding a graphics job with a company that'll let you do stuff like he was doing is pretty slim, at least back then it was. I guess I really didn't look that hard either. So I started painting boards.
DS: Do you have any formal art training?
GL: I took a couple drawing classes at USC (South Carolina) and they taught me about composition and positive and negative space, to me the most important aspect of a painting. I learned how to paint on my own.
DS: Obviously Surfing and “Beach Culture” are a central theme in your work, but what other influences would you cite with respect to your painting?
GL: Graphic design. Again, its all about how you arrange the elements on the page or canvas that make it look good or interesting, and that’s what I learned in my graphic classes. My biggest influence has been Carson’s book The End of Print. Observing the natural state of things around me as well. The grain in an old piece of wood, layers of paint splattered on a wall, the texture and color pattern on a paint rag. A lot of paintings start out by cropping out the bits and pieces of the world around me.
DS: Are there any artists - past or present - that have influenced your work?
GL: All the impressionists. Gaughin, Modigliani, Van Gogh, Shiele. Also the modern guys, don’t know their names though.
DS: How has your art evolved over time?
GL: In college I was into the classicist and Renaissance guys (David, Michaelangelo). I think I was just blown away at the detail and of their work, and the scale of it. Now I’m more into abstract paintings. I still don’t understand how a painting with less detail and subject matter can say more, but they do. should’ve taken more psychology classes.
DS: Most of your work seems to be painting. Do you work in any other mediums?
GL: I got into woodcarving for a few months last year. I’m going to try to get back into that but its pretty time consuming, I don’t really have the patience.
DS: How has your art influenced your surfing and vice versa?
GL: The greatest thing about surfing is that no matter where you’re at in the world, if you’re near the beach, you feel at home. I don’t go on inland vacation (except snowboarding). The Grand Canyon, great wall of China, Machu Pichu, I have no desire traveling all that way to stand at the edge of something and say “wow, that’s cool”. I hate feeling like a tourist, and as long as I’m at a beach I feel like I’m in the bubble instead of just being an observer looking in. that’s one of the feelings I try to get across in my paintings, the connection, piece of mind, and brotherhood that we get from surfing and hanging out with other surfers. Not sure if that answer has anything to do with the question, but its a noteworthy observation.
DS: What have been the biggest hurdles for you professionally?
GL: Just getting my name out there. Trying to figure out the best way to make money with art without selling myself short. Thank god for the internet. Can’t imagine all the stuff guys had to actually mail off 15 years ago trying to get noticed. Also, Trying to get galleries to give you a show. Like with everything else, its all about who you know.
DS: What is the art scene like in South Carolina?
GL: (Laughs) Flowers. Really, really pretty flowers. Sometimes huntin’ dogs.
DS: Where can someone find your art on display or for sale?
GL: At me Warehouse or on my website.
DS: What’s the future got in store for you and your art?
GL: I’m thinking about licensing my art out, but I’m not sure I want to see it get printed on a bunch of lame shit. I’m just going to keep putting my name out there and try and get my share of that “Kinkade” cash, cause there’s obviously a lot of it out there. break again.
DS: Thanks for talking to us Gaston and good luck!
GL: Thanks
Gaston has lived and worked on the South Carolina Coast since the age of 10. Gaston paints almost everyday, and realizes that he’s pretty blessed to make a decent living doing what he loves. His work is currently on display at The Art at Eighteen Gallery 18 in Milford, NJ and prints are available through his website, gastonlocklear.com