Clint Peterson: Moving Mediums


No doubt about it, professional skater Clint Peterson’s creativity reaches far beyond his abilities on top of four urethane wheels. From a very young age, he’s been drawing on stuff and kept at it on all sorts of mediums. In recent years, Clint has taken his creativity to found objects on the streets around him and repurposing them into pieces that are distinctly unique unto themselves.

We caught up with Clint to share with us a selection of his work and bits of info on moving it forward. Dig in. – BK


Clint on The Run with WeSC


For those that might not know, where did you grow up and how did you first get introduced to skateboarding and how did it move forward for you from there?
I grew up in Stillwater MN. It’s an old logging town. I’m not sure what got me skating? Just from the first time I remember seeing a skateboard I was hyped on it. I didn’t see a video or a magazine for like two years after I started. Older guys in my neighborhood got me hyped and showed me what to do.

action

It’s apparent that you were born with the creative gene. How long have you been drawing, painting and creating artwork? Who and what have been your inspirations and influences over the years?
It’s been a part of my life since I was very small. My family said you do what you want and I wanted to draw on my walls. There are so many influences, from Gonz to R. Crumb, Todd Bratrud to Neil Blender, Mark Ryden to Brian Lotti.

How does skateboarding intertwine with your artwork?
It takes skateboarding to make me feel at ease with my surroundings. When you’re at ease, you can make better art. They both have a flow that you can tap into with timing and practice.

What sort of subject matter gives you the creative spark?
It starts by finding things in the streets. Drawers, Old wood, busted frames. Then putting them to use; making them look like I think they deserve to. Giving life to someone’s trash is the spark at the moment.

Do you prefer a quiet studio setting or does music play a vital role to help you move the hours and your projects along?
Music always. Buck Owens on Pandora. NPR. This American Life, Prarie Home Companion are some of my favorites.

Which primary tools and medium do you use in your current body of work with the wood burnt pieces?
I can’t give up all of my secrets. I use a tool that burns into wood. Cherry, cedar, or ash, are the best woods I have found. But, I can get down with harder woods. It’s just a slower burn.

If you had a large budget at your disposal for an art piece or installation what would be at the top of your list to create?
Tree House where every piece of wood is a piece is burnt with awesome stuff.

clint

Where can we people find your artwork for purchase? Do you have a website or a gallery page with a portfolio of you recent work?
My current website is clintscorner.net and it needs to get a facelift. It will be up and ready by February I swear! I’m working on it!

Your creativeness on and off the skateboard has mixed with many of your sponsors over the years. Are you working on any projects with any of them at the moment? Any art shows coming up? What’s next on your plate?
I have a few custom models on Stereo in the works with some rad stuff on em’. I have a show coming up at the end of February a the R&R gallery in downtown LA. Follow me on Instagram @clintscorner for details of up coming stuff!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 at 11:03 am and is filed under Focal Point. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.