KDHamptons

KDHamptons: How long have you been coming to the Hamptons? Why do you love it so much?

Brian Farrell: Most of my life. I was born in Southampton. I grew up with the vast farm fields and far away vistas. The clear air and the blue oceans that caress and cleanse my soul. What the Hamptons offers me is a reprieve from the city. New York is my home, but to see the trees, smell the clean air, and surf in the ocean keeps me clear and sane. I noticed that a painting I was struggling with to move forward or complete, has a clear path after my mind has been unblocked from time spent out here. I love it for the rebooting of my mind.

KDH: Do you come out all year round?

BF: As much as the Hamptons is beautiful and serene, I am very disciplined in my creative process. I love the city just as much for what it has to offer. I like to be around the excitement, the energy, and the different people everyday. It excites my mind and allows me to continue to form an unending flow of ideas. My favorite times to come out are in the spring and fall. Anyone who has experienced these times no why. Its clean. Its crisp. Less crowded. The fishing, which is another love, is great and abundant.

KDH: Describe your painting studio, where do you work most?

BF: I live and work in the city. I have a 3,000 sq.ft. studio in the Chelsea Modern. Located at 18 street and 10th avenue. It’s a very modern, new building. It’s two floors, very spacious and all white.

KDH: Personal style: do you have a Hamptons “uniform”?

BF: I where Adidas track pants and a T- shirt the majority of the time. An outfit ready for anything. At night, it’s dark denim jeans, vans, and a hot fitted pressed shirt. Tucked or untucked depending on the event.

KDH: What is your favorite restaurant, why, what is the dish and drink you get every time?

BF: Red Bar. Pear salad. Truffled Chicken with mushroom risotto. I don’t drink :).

KDH: Describe your perfect day….in lots of detail please!

BF: Waking up to a not humid, clear sunny morning. Seven – ish. White linens all around. Knowing there is a size-able, overhead clean swell in the ocean with light offshore winds. Its high tide, so i have plenty of time to motivate slowly to get my venti bold coffee from Starbucks. A yogurt and berries from Pierre’s (no granola) . And, of course, the NY Post. Satiated and awake, It’s time to head to Montauk to join my friends in one of the coves for a communal fun filled day of perfect surf. Warm, light breezes have groomed the ocean to a sheet of glass. From the cliffs, surfers look like seals diving and popping up from the breaking waves. Some glide down in harmony with the rhythm of the energy. After a full day of laughs and cheers, we head to the beach and depart with the most amazing sunset burning the dusk sky, filling it with colors of pink, lavender, red and yellow. A bonfire has been lit and is burning tall and bright. Kids are running around chasing whatever. I feel refreshed and alive. My body is healthy from the workout in the ocean. Everyone has a look of content and peace on their faces. Odors of lobster, steaks and chicken are traveling over on the winds passing by the grill. There is feasting and laughter and stories of the day of memories recorded from the day. The sun has disappeared into the ocean. Faint colors of this worlds most incredible artist fade. An infinite amount of stars appear in the crisp night sky. Some of the children are sleeping around the fire. Its time to depart this moment. Its been a great gift.

KDH: What is the greatest part about being an artist? Do you live here full time in summer?

BF: The greatest thing about being artist is the freedom. The freedom of doing something for myself. About creating something and not for someone. A boss so to speak. It’s about my own time, my own hours in the studio with the music. The paint, the canvas and the mind constantly being tested by the challenges being faced creating. It’s about starting something new everytime and the challenge faced with the uncertainty of what will be created, how to do it and how it will end. It’s sort of a thrill. A high. Like riding a wave, gliding down the face and not certain of where you’ll end up. Both can be pure and unconscious acts.

KDH: Do you have a summer anthem? mantra?

BF: I don’t. If I get some surf in, I’m content.

KDH: What do you value the most? Whom do you admire most?

BF: I value my health and clarity of mind. I think its very important to eat well so the body functions at optimum level. Clogging your bloodstream with impurities such as sugars and fats causes your brain and mind to not compute to its top level. It becomes foggy. Your judgement and ability to think things through become clouded. I do several types of yoga at least four times per week. I hike, bike and surf. Its imperative to remain active. To have your muscles in motion so that they are being used. So the heart pumps and circulates fresh oxygen and nutrients to vital organs throughout the body. I am a machine that needs to move. If a still body of water has a constant flow of pollutants into it and doesn’t circulate, it becomes stagnant, thick with sludge and bacteria.

KDH: Describe your art, how does the Hamptons inspire you? Share how you began painting on the East End…

BF: As I stated earlier, I am from Southampton. That is where I began painting. As a boy, I could always draw well. In the time of my early teens, some of the greatest artists resided in the area. Dekooning, Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Rivers to name a few. What an influence to see these paintings in the local galleries and interact with them in person.
I dabbled with art classes in college, but nothing serious. It was around 1997 that I made the commitment to be an artist. I began self-taught oil paintings of gardens and landscapes that I helped design. (Horticulture was the career choice to become a landscape architect ). MY influences at the time were Manet, Cezzane, and Van Gogh being the most prominent. The Hamptons are prime for this type of painting. The work went through many changes as I searched for a purpose of what I was creating. In 2007 I attended a serious art school, the New York Academy of Art.

KDH: Where can KDH readers learn more about your work?

BF: To see the work and to find more information about me, go to: www.brianfarrellart.com