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My interview with Cay Broendum, very successful Danish watch artist from Copenhagen

My interview with Cay Broendum, very successful Danish watch artist from Copenhagen

Early 2018, my blog encountered problems.  The problems are partly attributed to the transition to a new server and to the creation of a new blog layout.  It caused the loss of over 100 pictures and a few dozen blogpost.  This blogpost was one of them.  So I am recreating it as I had all text saved on my laptop.
I got to know about Cay Broendum while visiting a good friend in Switzerland.  As it turned out, he had a few interesting paintings on the wall which made me curious.  Some paintings were of watches, and then there was a wild painting with lots of colors in large size that looked really crazy and cool.  So I asked my friend who the painter was.  As it turns out, the painter of the watchpaintings was the same as the painter of the large canvas.
It was Cay Broendum from Copenhagen in Denmark.  Until then I had not noticed him, but this experience left a lasting impression and my friend gave me the information of Cay who I contacted once I was back home.  It did not take long until I got my first watchpainting from him.  It was a Rolex Daytona with Paul Newman.  Now, this was years back.  Not sure exactly, but probably 5 years ago if not longer.  Back then, everybody heard of Paul Newman Daytonas, but the famous Paul Newman for 17.8 Million had not yet surfaced and the hype was by far not where it is now.
(I will update with a picture of my Paul Newman painting in a couple days)
Having talked to Cay quite a few times, I decided to get a second painting from him, this time of a watch that I personally like a lot due to its looks, and less for it fame.  A Patek Philippe Worldtime painting.  I plan to keep both.  And who knows if I may get a third one down the road…

After all this, I asked Cay if he likes to answer some interview questions which I patiently did.  Below you find the result, garnered with pictorial impressions of his paintings. I hope you will enjoy.
(I will update with a picture of the Patek painting soon)
1. Cay, what made you become an artist/painter?  When did you start?
– We all start as kids with Crayon in our hands, and so did I.
What made me specially happy for my Crayons was properly that no one stopped me while i was drawing.
My crayon was never taken away form me, for a better purposes. I was so lucky that I actually got even more colours when I ran out.
But then we come to the critical “point of no return”. That´s when you get to school age.
Kids that age suddenly thinks that Crayons and drawing are children stuff… and they stop the creative process to look more “cool” and mature.
I my case I had already then practiced so much so class mates, and later the girls want my drawing. So absolutely no reason to stop…
I actually enhanced my drawing and painting activities, and still do.

2. Can you tell us why you started painting watches, and what is the connection to the old letters on which you paint?  
– I painted the first watches as a natural impulse to the fact that I after a long periode, say 10 years or so, suddenly got a old speedmaster.
I was so fascinated with the Speedmaster and its story, that i grabbed my pencils and started drawing. By coincidence i chose an old letter to paint on, cause it´s yellow color it fitted the aged tritium of the watch.
That painting was posted on a social webforum, and Boom! Like minded watch folkes stared to ask for availability and if I painted other watches etc.
So you guys out there – you made this happen!! I´m just the one who paints, and try to tell the stories over again. The many facinating watch stories that the artworks show comes from you guys out there.

For how much longer will you have the old letters?
–  I don´t have more letters. And that leads me direct to your next question.
3. When and why did you start to create prints of your original paintings?
When I realised that this “watchpainting phase” would last longer than the stack of old vintage letters I started to paint on.
I had to do something, to match the demand and my interest to paint more. I also needed some larger artworks for those with BIG white empty walls. So it was natural to start on other materials.
4. Can you please show us which is your favourite painting? 
The favourite painting will for me as a creative person, always be the painting/ drawing I working on at the moment.
And this moment i´m working on a large scale painting 200×150 cm Acrylic and oil on canvas. And for the watch enthusiasts they will notice a reference to watches in the artwork when they see it.
Others may not. I like small details like that. The ones who know – knows.
5. And last but not least, do you have a favourite watch?  Are you a watch-collector as well?
Not a watch collector by definition. I love many kind of watches. But connect only to the watches i can wear in my daily life.
But YES i have a favourite watch. The one I got from my father as a kid (very common as a favourite watch) That´s a Tissot Seastar PR 516 GL. from 1969. 36 mm in Steel with a blue/plum faded dial, and folded bracelet. Amazing Robust watch. I really used it as a tool as a teenager and had no idea that It still would be around today.
I appreciate it at lot and wear it regular. Though more carefully today.
If I should chose a another favourite watch. For now it would be a Patek Philippe Gondolo 5109g.
It´s a square much more dressy watch. It´s time only and manual wind with Breguet numerals.
I like the rectangular shape a lot. Same proportions as a blank piece of paper ready for “crayons”, or a large upright canvas ready for paint.
But there´s so many amazing beautiful watches out there that inspires me.
So there will be MUCH much more art to come in the future.
So i´ll also say a special and huge thanks to all of you who post watch snapshots and wrist shots, and in general keep the communities updated on watches, online in magazines etc.
That´s still where I get my Inspiration from. So what you do you there, is properly more appreciate than you know.
For more information, check his homepage:
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