Showings

Well, I've got more great news on the show front.  My solo show at Main Street 5 will be from August 12 through September 2, 2011.  There will be an opening reception on August 12 from 5-9 pm.  I'd love to see you there.  http://www.mainstreet5gallery.com/

Another thing I'm really excited about is that I've just begun a relationship with Distinction Gallery in Escondido and a number of my pieces can now be seen there.  http://distinctionart.com/

I'll also have a piece in a group show at Pulse Gallery with "father" as the theme.  http://artpulse.org/

Upcoming Solo Show

Great News! I've got a solo show coming up at Main Street 5 gallery in El Cajon. It will run from mid August through early September. There will be both an opening reception (August 12) and a closing reception (September 2).
This whole thing came about through a combination of showing my work at a local café and word of mouth. The café in question, Café Loma, came to my attention through my wife, whose place of work is just down the street. As it happens, The owner of main Street 5, Esther Beish, was told about my art by Jody, the owner of Café Loma. Esther then contacted me and the rest is history.
This goes to show that big things can happen as a result of seemingly small opportunities. I have known artists who consider showing at cafés and other alternative exhibition spaces beneath them. Hogwash! If I’m not currently showing at a gallery, most of my art would be at home. The way I see it, better to have it showing at a café, where it will be viewed by hundreds of people, than to have it at home, where it will be viewed by almost no one outside of friends and family.
To paraphrase the great Joseph Campbell, when you put yourself in the field of your bliss, you will meet others who share your passion and doors will open that you did not even know existed.
 

Balancing work and family with studio time

Lets face it, as artists, we rarely get to spend as much time as we’d like in the studio. Between our day jobs, family life, and other commitments, it can be challenging finding time to create. To show how I meet this challenge, I’d like to go over a typical day in the life of Dan.
My day starts early, about 4:15, when I get up and help my wife prepare for work. At about 5:00, I see her off and spend about 20-30 minutes reading and relaxing with a cup of coffee. By 6:00 or 6:15, I’ve showered and am out in the studio (my garage). On workdays, I usually spend a good 2 hours painting and/or drawing. On days off, this time is increased to 5 or 6 hours, and sometimes even considerably longer than that.
Later in the day, when I‘m home from work and my wife and I have had dinner and spent some time together, I’m on my computer doing things related to marketing my art. Things like writing and answering emails, researching galleries and fellow artists, reading blogs, posting to my own, updating my mailing list and website, etc.
Doing what I’ve described above is simple but not always easy. I’ve decided that I want to paint and that I am committed to doing so on a regular basis. Furthermore, I want to put my work out there. I use the pockets of time before work to paint, and those after work to market. Simple. The part that’s not always easy is maintaining the discipline to do this without fail. I think I’ve done a pretty good job doing this by considering my studio time non negotiable, almost sacred time.
For me, it comes down to a simple question that each of us, as artists, must ask ourselves, “Am I passionate enough about my art to work on it each and every day?” If you can answer this question with an unequivocal “Yes”, then you can find time to do your art on a regular basis while maintaining a healthy family life and a productive work life.

Artists I like

Just wanted to share a few very talented artists I recently discovered.  Check these guys out...

http://www.imscared.com/

http://www.joevaux.com/#homePig

http://www.michaelpageart.com/index.html

Introduction

Well, I've decided to start my own blog.  I first want to talk a bit about it's title, "The Gatekeeper".  Recently, I was explaining my artwork to a friend who was astounded as to where my imagry comes from.  I told her that these things are inside my head and they demand to be let out...I'm just the gatekeeper.  That's actually how I feel when I create my images, like I have only partial control over what I'm doing, that these things already exist in some sort of dream space and that I'm giving them concrete form through a combination of both conscious and unconscious means.  Here's an image of a recent piece, as yet untitled and perhaps not quite finished.