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Artist Spotlight |
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This Month We Spotlight Fellow ArtBeacon Artist David Davies.
David Davies is a painter currently residing in San Francisco, California. David's work can be seen and purchased on his web site:
"David Davies Art".
Q: How were you first introduced to painting? How did your passion for painting develop?
A: I have been artistic all my life, but more as a hobby to occupy my time during the cold winters of Ohio, where I grew up. Passing the time, I would draw and paint on a much smaller scale than I do today. Now, thanks to the support and inspiration from my wife, Lorraine, and family, I have been concentrating solely on painting. I find that painting is a very natural process for me, where I feel more connected to my work. My "passion" arises from this connection.
Q: In your artist statement you label yourself an "atypical artist" due to having worked in the high tech industry. Has this impacted your artistic vision and if so how?
A: Yes and no. I specialized in application sales for years and found that I was more interested in software design, and the "look-and-feel" of the products I sold, than I was in the process of selling. As a result, I found myself participating in the development process more and more and assisting in designing the overall appearance of the applications I sold. I didn't have the skills of a programmer or developer, but I did have a good eye and could help those who made everything happen. On the other hand, my paintings are completely different than the structured world of high-tech. I enjoy the freedom of painting and find it is a much better outlet for my creativity.
Q: Have you had formal training in the arts, particularly in the area of painting and what person has influenced you or shaped your artistic style the most?
A: I have had minimal training, having taken a class here or there along the way. Mostly, I am self-taught from personal observation and library research. I have been most influenced by Abstract Expressionists, like Pollack, Krasner, Rothco, and Diebenkorn, although, my style is a little less expressionistic. Initially, I like to create expressively, but my inner nature leads me to want to continue to work the expression with blending, variation, and fine tuning. I have also been influenced by O'Keeffe's early works, and Cezanne and Feininger for their colors. On a more personal note, my sister paints wonderful abstracts that are unbridled and very expressive in nature. She continually inspires me in many ways to be more expressionistic and intuitive.
Q: Your abstracts vary considerably in shape, color and style. Are you able to keep your work varied at one point in time and if so is there a process to keep your vision varied? Or do you find variation in your work evolves over time? What influences your vision to keep your paintings so different?
A: I am not the kind of artist who is content doing the same thing over and over again. While I prefer oils, I also paint in acrylic and pastels. While I tend to paint abstracts, I occasionally paint landscapes and stills and enjoy drawing just about anything. I find that changing styles, materials, techniques, and colors often is a more natural way to create for me. It helps to keep my vision fresh and original. My initial vision dictates what materials and techniques I should use. It would not be unusual for me to have two paintings of similar styles that were painted months, possibly years apart.
Q: In a similar vein what type of things inspire your abstract vision? Are you randomly drawn to shapes & colors you see or do you find your creative process to be completely spontaneous?
A: I like this question because it concerns a trend I see, not only in my paintings, but other painters as well. I do not go out of my way to create particular shapes or use particular colors, but I do tend to gravitate towards certain colors and forms. Another artist friend of mine here in San Francisco, Takeshi Nakayoshi, makes a compelling case that this is due to our individual DNA... its who were are. At times, I have to try especially hard to break out of "me" and use different colors and try different compositions, again to stay fresh. I prefer spontaneity and I am most satisfied with my paintings that were not pre-planned and that were more expressionistic, like Stream and Park. To me, they better represent my true artistic creativity.
Q: Which of your paintings do you find impact viewers the most?
A:
I can only answer this based on reactions I have been fortunate to witness myself. Earth-Rising tends to create the most reactions. I am not sure why, but fortunately the reactions are positive. Other paintings that tend to get noticed are my blended paintings, including Blended, Blended #2, and Connected, and my perspective paintings, including Perspective, Perspective #2, Show and Below. Also indicative would be traffic on my website. The paintings that have been looked at the most are Park, Perspective #2, and Fall Storm, although this could be due to placement on ArtBeacon's home page.
Q: Which of your paintings did you find the most challenging to create? What made it so challenging?
A:
I really struggled with Road-Meets-The-Sky, but I am very happy with the final result. When I started this painting, I intended to do a non-representational abstract painting. As you can see, it ended up much different. Once the forms started to take shape, I transitioned to the landscape. In most cases, I like the process to lead me, rather than starting with a pre-set idea of what to paint. In this case, it seemed as though the transition was forced, and I ended up with a lot of reworking, and to an extent, overworking of the theme.
Q: Which pieces of your artwork do you find/have you found yourself attached to the most? What is it about this/these piece(s) that make them so difficult to let go of?
A:
Unfortunately, it is a painting that I already sold, Divide. Fortunately, I sold this painting to a friend and will be able to view it now and then. It is difficult to see the detail of this painting from the photo on my website, but I put a lot of effort to achieve the right colors and texture. I actually used salt crystals to get the texture I wanted in the lighter band of color. The end result is a sensuous experience that can be felt and viewed. My friend selected a frame that complements the texture and rich colors perfectly.
Q: Do you currently work in other artistic mediums? If not what other artistic mediums would you like to explore and why?
A:
Mainly, I am a painter. Again, I feel more connected to the process of painting and find that it satisfies my creative drive and my compulsive tendencies. I especially like painting in Oil, because the paint takes longer to dry and I can continue to refine my initial expression. I suppose, if I were to explore other avenues for my creativity, I might try sculpture for some of the same reasons.
Q: As an off the wall ending to our interview... what animal behavior would you like to see adopted as being normal human behavior and why?
A: Our dog, Teelo, teaches us the value of unconditional love. She is always happy to see us when we get home and is grateful for our attention. It would be nice if humans could be as loving and devoted to one another and less judgmental.
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Did You Know? - All ArtBeacon Artist Sites Are Listed Under "Resources"
In the navigation a top every ArtBeacon page is a link titled "Resources". Clicking on this link will bring you to a page with several resource types including "Artist Web Sites".
You can display "Artist Web Sites" results by Name or Location.
NOTE: Individual artist site results are displayed automatically once a site/store is published. Content for these automatic site/store references are pulled from "About The Store", "Store Name" (from your "Site/Store Settings" page) and "City"/"State" (from your "Account Information").
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Forums & Community
We remind you that you can discuss account setup, business practices, recent site developments, and suggestions, with fellow members and the ArtBeacon Development Team in the ArtBeacon Forum. >> Access The Forum |
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