Interview
Chit Chat with Thomas Meyer
What intrigues you about fashion?
The fact that it transcends the “real world”, like art, and invites some sense of fantasy into what can be an otherwise mundane existence.
When did you begin painting?
I began painting very early on as my mother was an artist, I probably had my first set of real oil paints by the time I was 8 years old.
What are some of your favorite local artists?
As I visit NYC quite often I will use it as my sense of local. The work on Martha’s Vineyard tends to be generic and provincial. Some of my favorite current artists are John Currin, Alex Katz, Marylin Minter…etc.
What is your most treasured piece of art?
As I constantly make new art, my favorite piece is always my last. If pressed to name a piece that I own it would have to be a small ceramic sparrow that I still have and insisted that my mother buy me at the age of 5.
Where is your favorite place in the world?
I have a few, I love Paris after having lived there for 5 years. I am completely fascinated with the idea of living in a small wooden mountain house in the Swiss Alps, and St. Petersburg Russia is beyond my ability to describe in terms of its ability to charm and enchant.
Who is your favorite designer and why?
I tend to be interested in British fashion designers, obviously Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen come to mind. Their use of materials, such as tartan and primitive materials from Britain’s past, incorporated into their modern designs lend a sense of fantasy to their work.
What is your greatest indulgence?
Window shopping in motorcycle and automobile showrooms such as Ducati and Porsche where things are just out of reach.
Where do you find inspiration?
All around me. Everything in nature is now and has always been of complete fascination to me. The colors of birds, newly sprouting leaves, the ocean and even the white of newly fallen snow. And of course Paris Vogue and W Magazine act as great source material. The British photographer Tim Walker’s sense of the fantastic is also an attraction.
Who do you admire and why?
Anyone seeking wisdom instead of wealth.
What media do you prefer to paint with?
I love working with oils because of their ability via their smells oddly enough to transport me back to my first experience of painting as a child. As of late I am intrigued with the immediacy and simplicty of pencil on good French cotton rag paper, such as Rives BFK, with a little Winsor-Newton gouache thrown in for color.
Who would you like to sit down to drinks with?
Someone with a deep understanding of the truth and at the same time someone that didn’t carry the world so heavily on their shoulders. In otherwords someone that I could gain insight from. Maybe the Dali Lama or Christ or Ghandi?? I think Jesus would love to share a glass of Campari while watching birds fly overhead in a Piazza in Firenza.
Do you have a guilty pleasure?
Riding my old BMW R60/6 motorcycle way too fast down an English Country road before the hoi polloi is out of bed.
Do you have a muse?
Lately it has been Lara Stone because of the (unknown to her) sense of comedy that is present in most of her photoshoots. In terms of practice or how I choose to live my life the above three mentioned icons aren’t bad either.
Visit Tom’s website for more info and images.