text Elliott C. Nathan and Randy E. Pinerd | photos Pete Hopkins
Elliott C. Nathan loves bright colors and thick black lines. His most recent works explore the world through a Pop and Surrealist lens, translating elephants, squid, eyes, pyramids, explosions, San Francisco architecture, vintage TVs, robots, hearts, and ham into colorful mixed media paintings.
Hailing from rural Connecticut, Elliott C. Nathan has been living and working in San Francisco for three years. In that short time he has had over 30 public showings, including four gallery shows and three art auctions. Nathan’s creations come in many forms: street art, paintings, sculptures,books, graphics, murals, and his mini-skateboard company, SunkenMonkey.com. His inspiration draws from the Pop and Surrealist works of Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and street artists like Keith Haring and Banksy. As a 10 year old child, Nathan’s parents let him choose the art that would hang in his room. He selected a wall-sized print of Picasso’s Guernica to hang over his bed, from which he practiced drawing Picasso-esque faces. His work has also been featured in a number of blogs and newspapers, including MissionMission, SF Gate, Mission Local, The Uptown Almanac, and The Examiner. As told by StreetArtSF.com in a recent interview, “Elliott C. Nathan creates playful pop culture style street art. Its fun, silly, upbeat, sometimes irreverent nature is like walking into the definition of cool.”
Randy E. Penird had this to say…
‘I was born and raised in Bartow, Fl. The kind of place littered with cow pastures and not much else. It was expected of me to grow-up, get a local job, and live my life in the town or close by in one of the satellite cities. Even as a young child I knew, without a doubt, I knew that lifestyle wasn’t for me – my ambition far exceeded my family’s expectations. As a testament to my convictions, I attended a military academy instead of high school (Summerlin Military Academy) and went into two years of college for Exercises Science after I graduated. I then headed north to the University of Florida to experience the college town lifestyle and do some much needed soul searching, although I didn’t have the money to attend the University.’ ‘I’ve never had formal art training, I’ve always been very convinced in the concept of self-education. Anything I learned was from hours, days, or months of practice. Either through exploring with sketches or studying the techniques of master artists or even casual doodlers – I feel there is something to be learned from every person, regardless of their perceived merit.’ ‘If I were to describe my work I would say it is vivid presentation with abstract subjects; mixing the realities of life, finding the beauty in everyday objects/ideas that most people write off as uninteresting. The things people expect nothing from are the subjects I focus on the most.’ 
These guys met online, connected, and then decided to move to S.F. to explore their collective visions together. That’s the very short version. The question you all must be asking is… “Who is who?”
Go to their websites and find out. Their story is pretty awesome. Just another brilliant example of the Internet bringing creatives together. Viva Instagram!
Elliott C. Nathan | Randy E. Penird
