Spotlight on Veritas Artist Chris Bohlin: Meet the Denver Painter Who Keeps Blowing our Minds
What’s it like to create new worlds for a living? Read our chat with this talented artist and cherished Veritas Fine Cannabis collaborative partner.
Artist Chris Bohlin can still recall the moment when he decided Denver was destined to be his forever home.
Bohlin, who was born in Washington D.C., says he fell in love with the Rocky Mountains while visiting Colorado on a work trip. “Why am I leaving?” he remembers thinking. “Then an opportunity to move up here fell in my lap, so I took it.”
A graduate of the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design, Bohlin’s ongoing collaborative partnership with Veritas Fine Cannabis can be traced back to an event invite he received from our Director of Experience, Taylor Saralli.
“Taylor reached out and invited me to a Veritas event where I started a painting that was then raffled off to one of the employees. After they watched what I did, one of the owners set up a meeting with me, back at Veritas HQ, about creating something special. The rest is history!”
Bohlin and Veritas have had several fruitful collaborations—including Bohlin’s biggest project to date: A large, four-piece canvas that now hangs prominently at the Veritas cannabis design studio, setting the perfect vibe for creative expression.
Beyond helping us to feel like we get to work in the chillest office space ever, this magnificent piece also features imagery that will soon grace our first official Veritas merchandise collaboration with Bohlin.
There’s a lot to unpack when it comes to Bohlin’s paintings, which employ contrasting color schemes and bold imagery to depict surreal landscapes, enigmatic portraits and more. From abstract refractions of the apocalypse to geometric mind-melts constructed with impeccable precision, a Chris Bohlin painting can feel like a portal to another world.
Bohlin, who has a deep interest in color therapy, says the stories told through his art are truly taking place in the mind of the beholder: “Colors affect us all differently—our feelings, our memories, our thoughts. For example, red may make someone feel eager or stressed, while someone else standing right next to them may be feeling grounded or calm while looking at the same piece. I feel that allows the viewer to find sometimes even more hidden expressions throughout my work.”
Though Bohlin doesn’t necessarily strive to infuse his paintings with “easter eggs” or secret references, eagle-eyed viewers may spot the frequent appearance of a character he calls simply “the little wiggly guy.”
Asked about his experience collaborating with Veritas so far, Bohlin shares that “finding companies that actually listen and work with artists nowadays is rare.”
“That’s why it's been such a treat to work with Veritas.”
We’re as stoked as Bohlin is for the merch release to drop. As far as the ways in which cannabis influences his creative process, Bohlin says it not only feels good, it helps him to “make sense of peoples’ bullshit.”
CALLING ALL CHRIS BOHLIN FANS to save the date of Nov. 3, 2023, when the artist will roll out his fourth solo exhibition in Denver. Titled THOUGHTS | COMMENTS | CONCERNS, the show coincides with Bohlin’s birthday and will feature both new experimental pieces and a look across the artist’s body of work. (Get updates on Bohlin’s personal website and on Instagram: @bohlguy.)
Until then, Veritas is thrilled to have Bohlin as an integral part of our longstanding commitment to working with local artists and making awesome stuff. Be it custom skis, commissioned artworks or our array of psychedelic- and vintage-inspired Veritas apparel, we love to elevate the ways cannabis can inspire and delight the imagination.
We can’t wait to share what we have coming next with Colorado’s seemingly endless crop of talented, cannabis-loving creators—stay tuned!
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