Bates, an evo Seattle employee, recently designed the tags and hangtags for the evo x TREW PNW Originals outerwear line. His influences for that project trace back to his ski patrol days on Mt. Hood.
Can you give us a quick bit of background about yourself?
I grew up on the east coast outside of NYC. I did art my entire life growing up and I was an art major in college. My mom always encouraged me to pursue art because she knew how much I enjoyed it. I studied art at St. Lawrence and tried to learn a little bit of everything. When I was there, I took classes in just about every studio discipline. After college, I ski bummed for 5 years, and worked as a ski patroller at Mt. Hood, Oregon.
Is there a story about how you came to work at evo?
I love the ski industry and wanted to find a path to stay in it. After my ski patrolling days, I went back to school for web design at Minneapolis College of Design and used that moment to refocus. Afterward, in 2017, my wife and I moved to Kirkland and we started to fall in love with the Seattle area and skiing at Crystal. I got a job bootfitting at evo and realized how quickly I could find opportunities at evo to use my creative abilities. It’s really cool that evo shines a spotlight on employees and their creativity.
Can you tell us about the work you created for the evo x TREW PNW Originals line?
Kevin Katsafanas (evo buyer) worked as a store lead when I started there. After my first season, he got the job as assistant buyer for techwear at HQ. Kevin had put together the employee art shows at evo Seattle and he had seen my work. He came to me and asked if I’d be interested in doing the TREW Project. He said, “Just do it in your style.” I did the hangtags and the internal labels for the line.
Can you talk a bit about this project - what was the collaboration like with the crew from TREW?
It just came together really easily. When I was brought on they had already decided on the product names. One of the names, the Jefferson, popped out at me. In my ski patrolling time at Mt. Hood, I had a really great view of Mt. Jefferson from the patrol HQ. There was an incredible sunset view. I took the idea of the layers and the Northwest landscape and played that out over the labels. Chris at TREW (CEO) was super easy to work with.
How would you describe your artistic style?
Simplified detail. Most of the things I make are all based around nature. Trees and mountains. I’ve been drawing trees since I was a kid. In the years of ski bumming, I used a sketchbook and plain black pen a lot. Years of removing color from the art influenced it a lot. Drawing is my strong suit. I’m obsessed with skies. The colors and transitions, and the layers. I’m fascinated by how the layers of the Northwest sky disappear and fade in the distance. In my work, I try to evoke memories, rather trying to recreate the landscape.
Working on anything interesting currently?
I’m working on some personal projects. I’m exploring this idea of simplified complexity.
How would you say your work has evolved over time?
It’s evolved a lot as I learn new mediums. All the projects I work on just sort of inform each other.
Where do you see your work headed in the future?
I don’t see stopping. This fall for the evo employee art show, I did a triptych with three different Northwest views. I’m exploring different approaches all branching off of designs inspired by PNW landscapes. I’m hoping to do something large scale on a wall some time. I’ve been working on the next round of designs for TREW and I think these would work really well as murals.
Can you tell us about how the outdoors has influenced your work?
There is no work without it. I draw stuff when I’m out hiking and expand on it later. Most of my work is invented from memories, instead of drawing from a picture. I want to make art that evokes the same feelings I had when I was out there experiencing the natural world.