Artist Interview: Scott Garder

We caught up with artist Scott Garder to ­hear about his favorite pieces and what fuels his work in drawing and painting.

Enjoy this interview, exclusive to Willow newsletter subscribers!

Willow: Could you share a little bit about yourself as an artist and how you found your way to drawing and painting?

Scott Garder: Some of my oldest memories are of drawing comic book characters or Ninja Turtles when I was really young. So I've always loved to draw, but it was something I treated as a hobby. And when I got into highschool I stopped drawing almost completely because I was skateboarding and drinking and partying and all those things you do when you're young and stupid. It wasn't until I found sobriety as an adult that I rediscovered my love for traditional art and started on the path to really learning how to draw in a serious way, not just as a hobbyist.

Congratulations on the show! Could you talk a little bit about the experience? How is it to have work on display in a setting as unique as this one?

This show was such a dream. To have my art shown on the same walls as artists I admire and look up to was really special for me. And to have my work shown at a Venue like Willow was pretty surreal. I'm not sure there's been a show quite like this before. There was something so effortless about putting the work up in a beautiful rustic retreat surrounded by nature. The type of realist art we make just fits so well here. It's hard to explain but it just felt like magic. Guess you had to be there.

How have you enjoyed Southern Vermont so far? Have you had the chance to do any plein air painting?

I am really loving it here! I'm from California so these New England landscapes are very new to me and I'm quickly falling in love with this place. It's magical. I haven't done any painting but did get a chance to do a bit of drawing outdoors while hanging out with other artists in the show. It's really been a fantastic experience here.

Out of all of the pieces you have in ATELIER, could you highlight one for us? What is something about it that people may not know?

Well I think my favorite in the show was my piece "Meditations on Prud'hon", a figure drawn in mixed media on paper. It's a study of a figure by the famous painter Pierre Paul Prud'hon but it's also pretty conceptualized on my part. I really wanted to absorb his sensitivity to the light effect, but I also played heavily on the sensuality of line in the contours of the torso and legs. For me this piece is much more than just a study and became about my own expression and development as an artist.

"Meditations on Prud'hon" and other works are still available for purchase from our show catalogue here

Could you highlight a piece from another artist in the show?

One of my favorites by far was Ted's drawing titled "Wave". I think I stared at that drawing on the wall for a good ten minutes. Ted is an absolute wizard.

“Wave” and other works are still available for purchase from our show catalogue here

What’s next for you?

Getting ready to go back to school! GCA starts back up in September so I'm about to start buying supplies and bearing down for another year of doing what I love the most.

To learn more about Scott Garder and keep up with his work, find his website here