"Shady Characters" artist profile: Toby Stanger

Today, we have our sixth of seven artist profile/interviews thanks to Brian Colin as he sends us this exclusive sit-down with Toby Stanger! In this interview we get a taste of who Toby is, what he is currently working on, and what kind of material he is going to bring to the upcoming show! This show is featuring a cast of 7 artists who include: Matthew Ryan Sharp, Project Detonate, H.C. Warner, Ben Walker, Tyler Coey, Brian Colin and Toby Stanger, and is set to go down this weekend, August 6, 2010 from 7pm - Midnight at Alcove Gallery in Atlanta. Take a minute, and get to know these artists as we ramp up for what promises to be a great show!

For those unfamiliar with you and your work can you tell us a little about yourself and your craft?
I started painting seriously 6-7 years ago but have been painting and doodling in some form or another my whole life. I have a full time job that allows me a lot of flexibility to paint all afternoon in my studio and gives me the feeling of being a full-time lazy artist. My primary medium is acrylics on wood – mostly found wood, like cabinet doors and old picture frames. A lot of my paintings in the last couple of years have been really detailed pictures of animals created using lots and lots of layers of paint put in place with tiny brushstrokes. I totally visualize my upcoming paintings before laying them out…. Then sometimes they change mid-painting into something else.

With Shady Characters being the title of the show, how does your work represent this theme?
Most of my characters are a little shady; I’ve got birds smoking cigarettes and wielding guns dressed in military garb, and sharks shooting lazer beams out their eyes.

Is this a theme that is regularly seen in your work?
Most definitely. I don’t know if I always think about it too closely, but I always seem to put these animals in these ridiculous human scenarios and it just makes humans seem like a lot of us are a bunch of jerks.

Do the subjects in your pieces represent you or anything that you are going through?
I’ve definitely used my art as an outlet during hard times. What I paint is not necessarily a literal interpretation of what I’m going through, but I paint to help me get through whatever process I’m going through. If I couldn’t paint, I might go crazy.

What else do you have going on in the near future that you would like to let folks know about?
I don’t have any more shows planned, but I’ve just settled in to my awesome new studio in downtown Bellingham, WA, and we have art walks the first Friday every month – come visit us! You can check out my website at www.tobystanger.com.