Byron Stout

Byron Stout is a local artist and he is as honest as they come.

“You can’t force it. When you try to, people notice.”

His studio is inside a building that you didn’t know existed, sharing the space with other local talent (a band and a seamstress). Looking at his paintings, you get the strong sense that they are real. This isn’t some fake attempt at scenery or landmarks or people. Its real emotion brought to you in oil from an unassuming building.

Describing his own art, he says, “I’m like a raccoon, I’m attracted to shiny metal objects and I try to steal them before anyone else does. That’s really how I feel when I see some sort of image, I feel like I have to take that image and capture it before anyone else does, like it’s a race.”If you’ve seen his art, you saw it at the Millman Legacy Gallery in Spanish Fork, Velour, Sego Arts Center, F Stop Café, or a number of window galleries in Downtown Provo. He also has a blog that you may have stumbled across, here.

When asked if he had a goal with his art, he responded, “I guess it’s just to not stop now, you know, pray that I can continue making art for as long as I can.”

And he's only 26.

Posted by Coby Gerstner
Photographs by Matt Clayton