Artist Brent Estabrook’s Technicolor Plushie World Calls Our Inner Child

Artist Brent Estabrook is known for his large scale oil paintings of stuffed animals. Massive and bright canvases portraying piles of rainbow colored plushies inspire happiness and creativity among Estabrook’s many fans. The artist’s six-figure art is a favorite of collectors worldwide and only available via his waitlist.

This past July, Estabrook launched the 2nd edition of his Smiles pop-up at Westfield Century City Mall in Los Angeles. Smiles featured original paintings, prints, and other collectibles for sale, including an interactive claw machine and original plushies. We sat down with Estabrook to ask him a few questions about his exciting recent and upcoming events.

You went to dental school originally. What drew you to that profession?

It was a respectable, secure profession. I knew I could do well for myself as a dentist. I studied art throughout my undergrad preparing to go to dental school because it’s what I enjoyed but it wasn’t until my last year of dental school that I realized practicing dentistry didn’t bring me joy. It was art that brought me joy. There was sort of a flash of intuition moment where I knew I just couldn’t dedicate myself to a career that didn’t bring me joy and I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in art instead.

Why do you paint stuffed animals and why did you decide to paint them so large?

Stuffed animals are such a universal image of childhood. They elicit such positive emotions like joy, wonder, happiness, playfulness, passion, and love. Those emotions are so powerful and I think that as adults we tend to lose some of that, especially the playfulness, the unfiltered wonder and passion for life that we had as kids. I wanted my art to remind all of us, kids and grown-ups alike, of that. I wanted to create art that above all, inspired joy.

I create many paintings as large as I do in order to give the viewer the sensation that they’re small again, transported back to childhood. If that childhood was a good one, it might bring up happy memories, and even if it wasn’t I see it as an opportunity to create new ones.

If you weren’t painting stuffed animals, what would you paint?

I actually do paint quite a few things other than stuffed animals. Creative evolution is one of the cornerstones of my work. I’ve done skulls, currency, and I’m working right now on starting a series of nature- and garden-inspired pieces. My Quilts and CRAZY Quilts series are the ones I’m most prolific in at the moment. Quilts are essentially a collection of squares, each one painted in the moment with incredible texture, depth, and a sense of spontaneity. CRAZY Quilts are like the macro, zoomed in versions of the Quilts, very abstract. I never know where my Creativity is going to lead me!

What is your mindfulness practice and how do you incorporate it into your work?

My mindfulness practice is a huge part of my creative process, maybe even the most important practice next to my color mixing. I make sure I’m spending time every day meditating and adding to my gratitude journal. I move my body, get exercise, and eat healthy. Those are important too, and all of it really contributes to keeping that channel between me and that almost divine force that is Creativity open for me. It helps maintain my natural sense of positivity so that those emotions are effortlessly transmitted in my paintings.

What was your favorite game as a child and can we see that in your paintings?

I loved Rollercoaster Tycoon! It was a computer game, kind of like The Sims, but instead of your house you built a roller coaster theme park business. When I created those theme parks I was always thinking, “How can I make this bigger, better, and more exciting?” and I do the same thing when I paint. It’s very much about getting as many people as excited as I can about my paintings, having fun, and feeling the good energy.

Who/what inspires you?

The true answer to that question is life, everything. I draw inspiration from all of my experiences and I channel that into the pure essence of inspiration.

Impressionists and nature are playing a big role in what I’m creating right now. They really emphasized the feeling of the painting over the technical aspects. They didn’t try to over analyze what they were creating, they were just present in the moment, doing the work of creating. I really identify with that, not giving the adult mind the chance to overthink the creative essence of the piece. You’re just creating an impression of the feeling in that moment.

You lived in San Francisco and Los Angeles. What do you love about California?

I always tell people the reason I love California are two things: the sunshine and the people. I only lived in SF for about a year between 2014 and 2015 and I have a lot of great memories from the parks, Dolores Park, Golden Gate Park, and Alamo Square, but I really found my home when I moved to LA. In LA there’s sunshine almost every day and I’d say I get a lot of health benefits from soaking in the vitamin D since I sit on my roof at my studio every morning. The people though, all the creative people and entrepreneurs really chasing their dreams and passions, I love it.

How is it for artists here in California?

I’ve met so many artists that are all working to lift everybody up. So many supportive patrons, collectors, and other creatives. I find that everyone in the creative community in LA is very much trying to help you rise to the top. It’s nice.

What’s next for you?

I just launched a fine art-inspired luxury plushie line this summer called Smiles & Friends, so that’s going to be a fun project for quite a few years to come. The first plushie was my personal symbol, the pink and green Smiles teddy bear with an upside down face, who reminds us to look at the world with a different perspective. Smiles is all about embracing what makes you different to cultivate creativity. We’ll keep releasing new plushies inspired by my CRAZY paintings with their own unique positive message and collectibles that go with them. It’s really fun.

I’m also excited to move my Studio from downtown LA out to another LA area with more foot traffic, maybe Manhattan Beach. I love being able to meet and interact with people so that’s going to be a lot of fun. I’ve also been getting into plein air painting like I mentioned before, really inspired by the Impressionists and nature so definitely some new series coming up. I’ve also got some art fairs I’m looking forward to but they’re not confirmed at the moment so I don’t want to put the names out there just yet. But I’ll be sharing more about it as we get closer.

Roberta Silverglate, California Business Journal