Colorful street scene of a café with people sitting and chatting outside, city graffiti on yellow wall, large window showing indoor dining, and a man with glasses sitting near the wall.
A painting of colorful koi fish swimming among lily pads on a black background, with the artist's signature and date in the bottom left corner.
A colorful painting of a house surrounded by tall, twisted trees with green leaves, under a bright yellow moon in a blue sky. The house has a yellow door, yellow window frames, and a small wooden deck with a chair. A winding path leads to the house,
Painting of a lighthouse near the coast with a red roofed building and green foliage in the foreground, and a view of the ocean in the background.

CHAT FORBES FINE ART

STUDIO ART

JAPANESE LANDSCAPE SERIES

PLEIN AIR & LANDSCAPES

DRAWINGS & GOUACHE

CHAT FORBES FINE ART

Artist Statement

I have different ways of painting depending on the subject. If I have a style it would be within the different methods of approaching a subject.

A friend once described my work as modernist. Perhaps, as I feel I don't follow existing norms, work outside of the art community and am not searching for a formula. I paint only subjects that interest me and in a manner that interests me.

I give myself freedom in my Japanese Landscape Series where I deal with the real and the abstract and more freedom when I work totally from my mind or working quickly plein air.

I have drawings and paintings that come from photographs I have taken where I am struck by the subject, the aesthetic, the colors, the composition. These are captured instants in time where all aspects of that point in time are in focus, even the corners and background that go unnoticed at a passing glance.

Above all, I search for an aesthetic to bring order into my internal world and a need for creativity which is at my core. I paint for myself and for the enjoyment of others: family, friends and friends who are artists.

While I love to draw and work in gouache, I especially like to work in oils. I love their fluidity, their smell, the process and their sense of importance in the history of art.

Chat Forbes standing in front of a large, abstract landscape painting in a museum or gallery.

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