Inside the Studio

Chase Langford

Favorite material to work with?
I paint with oil because it is rich and stays alive on the canvas.  I also use a lot of metallics.

What themes do you pursue?
My work always has a geographic reference.  Each painting is informed by a place that I have been expressing, and its geography in some way.

How many years as an artist?
I popped out of the womb as an artist.  My first painting was on the wall by my crib.  I had to use the only material available to me.

Where is your studio?
It is a separate structure by my house.  I have a 30 second commute, which is especially nice in Los Angeles.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
The prominent LA artist Alexis Smith told me that being an artist is a lot of intense work… so true… and I love it.

Art school or self-taught?
I was trained as a cartographer, so I drew maps in studio in college. I’ve taken many art classes, but none of them in painting… that I have learned through thousands of hours in the studio.

Prefer to work with music or in silence?
I listen to music or NPR programs. Sometimes I paint in silence. I know a painter who watches movies while he paints, but I can’t imagine doing that.

Where can we find you outside the studio?
Swimming, hiking, on frequent trips to Palm Springs.

What’s around the corner from your place?
I’m at the top of the Santa Monica mountains, surrounded by a lot of open space.  Hawks, deer, coyotes, as well as many well known Hollywood actors’ homes are close by; I’ll resist name-dropping.

Day job? 
I paint 200% of my time. No day job.

If you couldn’t be an artist, what would you do?
There’s absolutely nothing I would love more than being an artist, but if I had to do something else: architect, urban planner, cartographer, advertising, or maybe videographer.

What do you collect?
Mid-century modern furniture and old atlases.

Favorite contemporary artist?
Willem de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn – both were brilliant abstract painters.