My story
I’m Brenden Sanborn. I paint the moments people usually keep to themselves: the softness under the strength, the pause before someone lets you in.
a rose for her, still
Age four or five
My mother loved her garden, so I drew her roses. Every single time, she smiled and told me how beautiful it was. She was my first collector, and my biggest encouragement.
the kind of scenes I painted on them
Exeter, New Hampshire
An older neighbor who had traveled the world, collected art and built things with her hands asked me to paint little wooden ovals, each about a quarter inch thick. I shellacked them, laid down a base coat, then painted seaside scenes right on them without drawing first. Lighthouses, seagulls, beaches. She attached them to the pieces she made, and I never saw how they turned out. That summer I learned I could just trust my hand.
Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
My time studying at the Savannah College of Art and Design was one of the best times of my life, and I left with my BFA. I had been selling paintings since I was a kid, but this is where I learned the rules I would later love breaking.
“No one bought a painting. But they talked to me like I was already a professional. That's when I knew.”
My first show, a nightclub in Ogunquit, Maine, 2003
indigo, always
Favorite pigment
Most painters keep their distance from it because it takes over everything. That is exactly why I love it. The contrast tells the emotional part of the story.
a print in the studio
About fifteen years ago
Originals are special, and I don’t make prints of everything. But when I realized I could offer high quality fine art prints, still affordable, I knew I could actually do this for a living.
2013
Portland Museum of Art Biennial
Chosen for Box City, same year as my solo show Water and Light
Box City
Portland Museum of Art, 2013
One of only a few artists chosen to contribute to Box City, Rahul Mitra’s traveling installation, during Piece Work, the 2013 Portland Museum of Art Biennial. A city built from thrown away boxes, made to shed light on the people society forgets to see. It stood outside in the museum courtyard and made it through a whole Maine winter.
every wall, every corner
2015
Painted live at Art Basel Miami
Nina Torres Gallery, my first year in South Florida
the studio, Fort Lauderdale
Picasso watching me paint
Fort Lauderdale
My paintings were big and my place was small, so I painted on the floor. My dog Picasso would crawl right between my legs and watch. He is twelve now, still by my side, and when he licks my leg it means paint time is over.
In the studio
Music takes me right back to places, so most days it is quiet instrumental. When I want a painting to feel something, I put on songs from my childhood in the 1980s, and the painting takes shape around them.
“Strength is only one side of a man. I want to paint the human side.”
Why the figure: the vulnerability, the emotion, carried in the eyes, the body language and the placement of color. These days I paint women more often too, chasing the same thing.
this morning's page
My studio ritual
Every morning I turn on the coffee, and before I look at my phone or anything online, before I head to the gym, I do one sketch. Tired or not. It’s the simplest habit I have, and the one I never skip.
the eBay listing
The strangest place my work ended up
I was shopping for a friend’s gift and found one of my original 15 by 15 inch watercolors for sale from an estate sale. As far as I know, it is still there.
the Bogoss book
In print
A fellow artist reached out and asked me to be part of the very first edition of Bogoss Book, a collection of art celebrating men. The name comes from French slang for a good looking guy. Most of the other artists worked digitally, and as far as I know, I was the only fine artist in it. The series is still going today.
on book pages
On screen
My paintings appear in Pray Away on Netflix, and in two new films, including an independent film with my work all through it. More on that soon.
where they live now
Where my work lives now
From the USA and Canada to France, Italy, Spain, Egypt, Australia and New Zealand, and far beyond. The list keeps growing.
still figuring it out
Something I'm still bad at
I still feel like an imposter some days. I forget that even the greats looked at a blank canvas and wondered if they knew how to paint. Every painting is problem solving, and a new adventure.
opening night
now: Space Untitled
up close
to be continued
Keep going
