Cole Gerst is a graphic artist and painter in Los Angeles, California. Originally from the deep south of Albany, Georgia, he grew up surrounded by many outsider and folk artists, including his grandfather, a respected local craftsman. As a kid, Cole enjoyed many of these artists' fantastical stories about faraway lands, or conversations with Higher Powers. He was inspired by their ability to create art that revealed the world as only they saw it.

Cole's relationship with outsider art is evident within his work, which is spontaneous, whimsical and provides evidence of an imaginary dimension. Plant-like mixed media creations seem to take over a world that he calls "in between sanity and insanity: a point in a person's life right before they snap." He envisions that this world appears instantly and soon disappears with no trace. Cole rarely redraws an image to perfect it; rather he goes with what comes out of him the first time around. It is his feeling that this keeps the image in its purist state, from brain to canvas.

After studying at the Atlanta College of Art, Cole moved to Los Angeles. He became the Art Director of House of Blues Entertainment, where he contributed to all of the visual creative endeavors, from art directing the branding and corporate identity, to designing and illustrating artwork for promotional items for each musical performance. He also helped to curate the House of Blues folk art collection, the second largest in the world. This experience furthered his relationships with outsider artists, while inspiring him to hone in on his own artistic style.

He now heads up the design firm, option-g, which specializes in designing music packaging and collateral for musical artists in a wide range of genres, including independent rock (Grandaddy and The Shins), hip-hop (Eminem and 50 Cent), classic rock (Cheap Trick and The Cult) and classic country (Patsy Cline and Merle Haggard), as well as classic soul (Curtis Mayfield). Cole was recently commissioned by The Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles to design a tribute poster for the late Elliott Smith. He was named one of the top designers in L.A. by Rockport Publishers and was featured in the book, New Design: Los Angeles. His work has been featured in dozens of art and books and design magazines, and he has won several awards for his music packaging, including six awards for design and illustration excellence by Print Magazine. His work also appears in the Experience Music Project's collection in Seattle.

Some of his work is currently traveling with the exhibit, "Up Our Sleeve," which started in Los Angeles and has traveled to San Francisco, San Diego, Tokyo (Japan), Kyoto (Japan), Ghent (Belgium) and Amsterdam (Holland). Cole also participated in the "Covered" show (Nov. 2003) at Lather Gallery in Los Angeles, where he showed work alongside fellow artists Sage Vaughn, Benzo and Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Gerst has his second solo show of 2004 at Han Cholo in Echo Park (LA) in August, where he will show his poster art along side his paintings.

Cole's wallpaper includes:
1. Blackbirds custom art mural wallpaper by option-g
2. Deers modern custom wallpaper by option-g
3. Sealife modern custom wallpaper by option-g
4. Blue bird and dogs with spades door mural wallpaper by option-g
5. Bulldozers and palm trees door mural wallpaper by option-g
6. Circles door mural wallpaper by option-g
7. Butterfly modern wallpaper by option-g
8. In The Shadows custom art wall mural wallpaper by option-g

See more of Cole's work at www.option-g.com.