MTO Bikes: First off we want to say thank you for this interview. So how long have you been doing art?

Chris: Hey no problem. I have been doing art since I was a kid. I have been serious about it for the last 20 years and am 39 now.

MTO Bikes: Can you describe your style?

Chris: Not really, can you? If I had to have a stab at it I would say its heavily influenced by tattoo imagery (i still tattoo now and again!) and religion and music, these days I work mostly in lino cuts, because this seems to be where I am happiest at the moment, having said that the mountaincycle graphics were done in pen and ink.

MTO Bikes: What are some of the challenges to putting your art on a bike frame?

Chris: Just deciding what the hell I was gonna put on there, it was a hard brief because it was so open, I was pulled in loads of different directions and then you take into account the shape of the frame and the nightmare begins! You seriously would not believe how many sketches I did for that bike.

In the end i realized that putting too much on would look a mess, and the birds were taking shape nicely so that kinda decided things, I am stoked on how it looks!

MTO Bikes: I find it interesting you went with pen and ink for the mountain bike art. Was that because of the surface you were dealing with or was that more of a direction you felt pulled in?

Chris: I think the choice to use pen and ink for the bike frame was not so much to do with the surface I was working on but the way that it suited the job.

MTO Bikes: So are you considering doing more mountain bike pieces? If so for whom, and can people get private quotes?

Chris: At the present time I am thinking of doing anything that will provide me with food!  Half-joking aside I’m pretty picky about what work I take on, because if I’m not into it, it becomes a nightmare, however I’m open to offers!

MTO Bikes: You say that you do some tattooing on occasion, have you considered maybe tattooing a mountain bike. You know like work with some etching into the frame or something?

Chris: Well as far as I know my tattoo machines only work on skin, but what’s interesting about your question is that I actually trained as a silversmith and one of the disciplines we covered was engraving, man! That’s an art in itself and I am definitely not up to engraving a bike frame.

So there you have it. A great artist and a great guy, you can see some more of Chris’s work at his website.

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