Philip Brink was born in Spanaway in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States in 1978. This rural area quickly became enveloped by the nearby city and gave him an opportunity to watch natural areas change into urban sprawl. He spent hours wading through rivers in nearby towns and forests enjoying opportunities given by nature. Despite enjoying art, Philip perused a Bachelors degree in Religious Studies while completing extensive courses in Mathematics, Anthropology, Sciences, and biblical languages.

After completing his degree, Philip started a short stent in seminary, reevaluated his position on organized religion and the joined the US Air Force. This time focused his attention to detail and developed a need to learn continuously. Trauma resurfaced during his time in a war zone along with adding new dangers. The result was hospitalizations and a new outlook on life, his place in the world, and enjoyment of minor details overlooked by many. He returned to art as an outlet for uncomfortable memories and a source for calming his mind through focus on naturalistic detail.

Philip completed post-graduate degrees in Computer Science and Computer Game design following retirement from the military. He has taken opportunities to work in database design, application programming, game design and a short stent as an Adjunct Professor. This gave opportunities to travel the world, meet new people and cultures, and continue the process of learning beyond a specialized field of study.

Philip had the opportunity in 2012 to restore a statue of a Vietnam-era police dog which now features in an exhibit at the Security Forces Museum on Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Two drawings were featured in 2021's "Emerging Artist Wellness" online gallery.

Philip now lives in Toronto, Canada with a focus on moving away from past careers and time to focus on making sense of life by putting it onto canvas.

Life is utterly simple and we complicate it as a result. Taking the time to observe reality lets us appreciate its simplicity and beauty. Sometimes it is a sprawling landscape and others will reshape our understanding of the world around us. But, the most difficult subject to understand is actually our self. Each piece combines these concepts by depicting science, history, our hopes and fears, and experiences that we can share.

Painting allows us to observe or imagine a subject as it truly exists. Due to the nature of paint, this requires a layered approach intermingled with scumbling and glazes over an underpainting. As a result, I focus on traditional oil painting with a non-limited palette. Yes, this takes a lot of time. But, I get the opportunity to focus on easily overlooked details in the image and the materials I use. One such detail is painting on aluminum panels to give absolute control over the surface and its longevity. It's not traditional, but science along with history allows us to make informed choices our predecessors never had the opportunity to make. Art is an investment and part of our history. It should be allowed to last beyond our short term vision and given the opportunity to be enjoyed for multiple generations.

Generally, I focus on naturalism as a visual style. If a viewer casually views a painting and states "It looks like a photograph", there can be no greater compliment. But, the content selected is an attempt to tap into the human experience of the viewer. If the viewer subconsciously recognizes its hidden meaning, learns about history or science, or experiences an emotion because of the piece, I have accomplished my actual goal.

Art is an opportunity to give back to the lives of others by exploring our collective experience. In the process, I get to show how all cultures have amazing unique histories and striking similarities easily missed by ignoring the tiny details. I hope my art one day brings some amount of understanding between two people who previously would avoid the opportunity. It may be a simple detail in the greater human experience, but it is a pursuit worth seeking.

Sometimes life stories are too crazy to make up. It's been a wild ride to this point and I can only expect more of the same.

Constant bullying while suffering years of abuse by a neighbor, no friends, constant medical problems, and nearly dying twice; it has an impression on a child. Home and art was a safe place which allowed an escape. I ran from many things and found solace in computer games, creating and modifying games, and even dabbled in remote control models while tearing apart random machines to learn how they worked.

I suppose the definition of who I was should simply be "naturally curious about everything" and not much has changed after 40+ years. I started off learning Applied Physics in University only to change to World Religions, but found more enjoyment in unrelated classes like Antropology and Phsychology. But, my aptitudes were in Art and Computer Science. Looking back, I learned a little of everything and found ways to bring them all together in new and unusual ways. It changed how I see the world, people, religion, history, and science.

With that crazy perspective, there should be no surprise that it wasn't easy to find work and having to do so in the middle of the DotCom crash in the Pacific Northwest where everyone was looking for work. A short stent in seminary solidified my disattisfaction with religious organizations, so I followed the last good option and joined the military.

The military was great, horrible, and everything anyone would expect from a pyramid dictatorship hoping to bring an end to suffering through suffering. I met brilliant people, oddballs each one of them, but brillant. I learned and taught about radar theory, computer tech, and weapon systems for multiple years. I also met dehuminized people with bags over their heads, people who would be called heros and freedom fighters if they had won, and many others. I have heard gunshots fired in anger, mortars and rockets falling in the distance, and smelled the dust of floor while hoping that it lands on someone else. I held long conversations with a chaplain who stayed up all night playing guitar because he kept seeing the soldiers he had to pick up after battles. It will shape anyone into something they could never expect.

Needless to say, my life had an impact on me. I ran to the ends of the world and it caught up in a short year. All at once... A few hospitalizations later, I found myself with a pencil in hand and an astonishing drawing on paper. I had never drawn like this before. Somewhere in all the years of mess, I found attention to details I never knew existed. Though not having drawn in 20 years, it somehow looked like it was all I did in that time. Perhaps I simply learned to slow down and nibble away at difficult things one small task at a time.

In 10 years, I progressed from being too afraid to leave my bed to living in foreign countries. The process was simple and long: "I challenged myself to be a little better today than yesterday...everyday." Through that, I returned to University and completed two Master's degrees in computer science. I worked as a database designer in a psychology research office and helped design their studies, freelanced as an artist a couple times, framed art, and taught Computer Science at a small university part time. As a nice flop, I started a computer games studio, but learned much along the way.

So...why Flying Chappal Studios? This is an easy story actually. While a student in England, I met someone exceptional from India. Eventually I confinced her I was worth her time and the name was her idea when I started the game studio. Sometimes a failure leads to new opportunities and she has supported me each step of the way, even when she new I was wrong. So...the name stays.

Do I regret the path I have taken, or wish I could take away any of the horrors along the way? No. I cherish them all. My life is adventure, terror, fear, love, learning from failure and repeated recovery. Now I paint it for others to see. I combine a lifetime of journey through science, religion, technology, history, human nature and learning into art and let it flow out through paint. Sometimes it's hard to witness and sometimes beautiful. But, it's me each time.