Adam Haynes on his Union x Asymbol mural at evo in Seattle

The idea of the South Wall is this: a brand evo carries commissions an artist they work with to design and/or paint a mural for the south-facing wall of the retailer’s Seattle location. Everyone wins. The store ends up with an attention-grabbing piece of art, the artist receives recognition, the brand gets countless impressions, and passersby have something cool to look at. Among others, the South Wall has played host to murals from Element Skateboards, Volcom and K2, by Mike Kershnar, Eric Gordon and Electric Coffin, respectively. This time, evo teamed up with Union Binding Company and Asymbol Gallery, commissioning Bend, Oregon-based artist Adam Haynes to create a scene fitting for the winter months. We asked Adam, or Stickfort as you may know him, some questions on the the mural and his work in general.

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Where does the name ‘Stickfort’ come from?
It comes from a painting of a fort I did many years ago when I had one of my first shows. I grew up in the sticks, and built a lot of forts out of sticks, so it fits pretty well.

There are certain subjects that show up a lot in your art — snowcats, campers, vehicles in general — where do these themes come from and why do they continually appear?
I’ve always been intrigued by old trucks and vehicles; they have a personality and soul to them that draws me to them. I also like old tools, things that are made well and things that have been used for a long time. The dents and scratches tell stories of long trips and untold of abuses, and I like to try to capture that in my drawings.

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You’ve done a lot of commercial art, but yours has more soul than a lot of art with a brand objective. How do you balance doing what you want with what the client wants?
I’m pretty selective about my clients and my projects, and I try to make sure that my vision isn’t too far off from the client’s before I sign on to a project. I also treat projects for myself and commercial work very differently. Personal work is just that, and I try not to let too many outside influences in while I’m working on a project. Commercial work has different goals, and fulfilling a client’s needs can be just as important as my own. The commercial work pushes me in different ways, and I enjoy the collaboration that often comes with it. Keeping that balance is hard, but I try to have fun with whatever I’m working on.

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Which came first for you, painting or graphic arts?
Painting came first, but not by much. I love them equally, pushing paint and pushing pixels, although I’ll take a drawing desk over a computer any day.

Have you painted a mural before?
I’ve painted a few, but never one so big or so exposed.

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Does the mural represent an actual place, or is it just a scene you dreamed up?
It’s a mashup, but all based on local scenery. I love the pine forests around here in the winter; they’re just gorgeous.

Often times, when evo has a mural painted, the artist themself doesn’t paint it on the wall. Was it an option for you not to paint the actual mural?
Ha, nobody told me I had that option! Didn’t even think of that. It would have been weird to have someone else paint it though.

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Can you describe the process of painting a mural like this from beginning to end?
Well, I’m pretty green at painting big murals. I was pretty nervous when I started it out; I didn’t know if I could actually do it. Had to take a deep breath and just start painting. Once I got to it, it actually went pretty fast. I just started blocking in the colors and standing back often to see how it was turning out. It was pretty cool watching entire days going by while I hung out a foot or so from this huge concrete wall. We got all kinds of weather, from sun to rain to wind, and it got pretty gnarly towards the end. The whole last day I painted with Chris Shalbot from evo following behind me with a heat gun, drying the paint before it could drip from the moisture on the wall. It was such a good feeling to finish it just as the rain started to come back. I feel pretty lucky that the weather cooperated as well as it did. It could have been a lot worse!

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How long will the mural be on display?
I believe around six months.

Any specific plans for this winter?
My family and I just bought a new place this summer, so we’ll continue to remodel and get it dialed in. Then there’s the Dirksen Derby coming up, and the Mt. Baker Banked Slalom, so I’m looking forward to those and hopefully some good camping trips.

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