Inside the Studio and Work of Brent Estabrook
Artist, Brent Estabrook. Photo by Michelle Mosqueda
Brent Estabrook (b. 1985) is an American artist known for his large-scale, colorful oil paintings of stuffed animals. Born in Arizona and raised in Seattle, WA, he holds a Bachelor of Studio Arts from the University of Arizona and a Doctorate of Dental Surgery from the University of Louisville. With a playful yet growth-oriented approach, Estabrook combines challenging technique with a childlike sense of joy, creating textured and vibrant compositions.
His artistic journey began by turning frustration over student debt into paintings of enlarged currencies, leading to a career breakthrough and has since evolved through realism, hyperrealism, abstract, and surrealism. He is currently focusing on his Quilts and cRaZy stuFFed aniMALs series. Estabrook has exhibited around the world, including solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, the Long Beach Museum of Art, and Switzerland (upcoming, 2024), as well as during Art Basel in Miami. Currently based in Los Angeles, Estabrook continues to captivate audiences around the world with his evocative artwork and his newly launched art-inspired luxury plushie line, including "Smiles."
What is your studio like?
I feel my Studio is like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. I have tons of color, all different styles, paintings from every series… my Studio is a real treat, something you need to experience to understand. I’ve spent a lot of time intentionally cultivating the things that inspire me and bring positivity to the space and I think that it’s something everyone can feel as soon as they walk through the door.
When people show up for a studio visit, especially if they haven’t seen my work before, I tell them to not look at anything online or digitally beforehand, to just come and see it in person. The Studio is an unassuming building in downtown LA on the 3rd floor. Often people show up telling me they have 20 minutes to see it and then they’re still there 2 hours later! They leave so happy, all smiles, and it’s just an incredible affirmation of my mission to inspire joy.
How do you source imagery for your work? Do you collect the objects that you paint and sculpt?
Sourcing imagery for me has been a journey with lots of twists and turns. Back in art school, there was a photography library next to the art department and I sourced a lot of images there to inspire my earliest work. But as time went on I got more diverse with image sourcing. With my first big series, Skulls, the paintings were inspired by my meticulous studies of human anatomy in dental school. Then with Stuffed Animal Piles I photographed actual stuffed animal piles, sometimes spending six or seven hours setting up the reference photo to paint from.
But I ultimately knew that I wanted to grow beyond using reference photos. It was an important part of the journey, but I knew there were other possibilities for me to explore and grow into. With the cRaZy stuFFed aniMAL series, I just created an image from my mind and sketched straight onto the canvas. It was incredibly challenging to move from reference photos to imaginative sketches, but now, it’s how I source everything I’m painting. My energy comes from this inexplicable and infinite creative source that I tap into through meditation and just listening to what Creativity is telling me to create in that moment.
Tell us more about the bear. Where did this theme emerge which is a central figure in your work?
Smiles the plushie was born from a bronze sculpture. At the time, I was becoming well known and recognized for my Stuffed Animal Piles and Single Stuffed Animal series. There was this moment as I was sculpting, I was working on the head and an idea came to me to flip his face and do something unexpected, rather than what everyone expected me to do. It was not only creatively liberating, it was a huge success. Over the years, Smiles has turned into my personal symbol, a real life plushie, and many paintings created with my signature pink and green colors. Its motto “Different is Good” is about embracing what makes you unique to tap into infinite creative possibilities and it is the first plushie to be released from my new fine art-inspired luxury plushie line Smiles & Friends.
You had your first museum solo exhibition at the Long Beach Museum of Art last year. Can you share a little about this experience and how it came about?
Such an amazing experience, it was the first time I got to showcase my work at such a prestigious location and at the scale that I did. It came about from a ten-year relationship with Ron Nelson, the Executive Director of LBMA. When Ron came to the Studio and saw “Toy Box”, a massive Stuffed Animal Pile piece, he asked me to come do a show and I immediately said yes.
Your works are known for their vibrancy. Do certain colors elicit specific feelings for you when creating?
Absolutely, color is something that I could endlessly talk about… Pink is sexy and playful. Green is nature and harmony, and a love for the simple things in life. Cadmium red is vibrant and intense, you can just feel its power when you look at it. Blue is calming and purple, as one of the most difficult and expensive pigments to create, is all about luxury and regality.
What is next? Is there anything upcoming that you can share with us?
I always have an endless amount of creative pursuits on the horizon… Smiles & Friends is launching this summer, and I have a show coming up in July and August in Switzerland with the Maddox Gallery in Gstaad.
But one of the big things I am really eager to explore is really creating just for the sake of creating. I know flowers and gardens will be subject matters that I explore soon because they have been a huge part of my life. There are also an endless amount of collaborations that I have been thinking about, from furniture to who I can collaborate with for Smiles. I have also been giving some thought to the digital world… no idea where that is going to go yet, but it is exciting to think about.
Based on your journey as an artist, what advice do you have for emerging artists?
First and most importantly, cultivate healthy habits. I know it isn’t the most exciting answer but meditation, breathwork, eating well, exercising… all those practices help keep the connection with that inexplicable creative force open and flowing. As long as the creativity is flowing, it is hard to burn out.
Second, surround yourself with inspiring supportive people in your life and build a team that believes in your vision.
Remember that being a successful artist means not just learning art techniques, but business principles too. Creativity is infinite. Create what you want, don’t create for the market.
Your 'Smiles' pop-up opened in Los Angeles on July 12th. What's it all about?
A lot of people said that my Stuffed Animal Pile paintings reminded them of the inside of a claw machine so we decided to bring that experience to life! We started with the idea of bringing a claw machine into a plushie shopping experience for my birthday and it evolved into this incredible in-person shopping experience dedicated to the world of Smiles & Friends. There are original oil paintings, fine art prints, apparel, collectibles, and of course plushies – both a made-to-be-played-with version and a Gold Tag collector’s edition that comes with a digital Certificate of Authenticity that, of course, comes with all kinds of cool stuff.
We even have the world’s first pink plushie wall with over 200 Smiles bears on it! It’s happening July 12-14 at Westfield Century City in LA so if you’re in the LA area, definitely stop by and say hi and take home a Smiles. Then we’ll be opening the online store on Sunday the 14th for anyone who isn’t near LA and can’t make it to the pop up.
This is just the beginning for Smiles & Friends. A percentage of the profits go to Inner City Arts, a nonprofit here in LA that I’ve been working with, and each plushie has a unique inspiring message… We’ll be releasing other plushies inspired by my cRaZy stuFFed aniMAL paintings for Christmas this year and again next for my birthday. The pop up is a really exciting beginning of something big!
