Sky Over Mountains – Dan Beck 2007 – Pigment Print on title wall of current exhibition

Opening Reception – tomorrow – Saturday June 27, 2009 2 – 4pm

MEDIUM : RARE Exhibition will remain up into the second week in August.

Below is an excerpt from my “Artist Statement”

My preference is for people to not focus as much on how I create art, as how the art appeals to them or affects them.  In most cases, the subject matter was chosen because my experience of a place has left me with such a strong impression.  I clue in on a few particular aspects of what I am seeing and try to articulate those aspects in a way that translates a feeling and invites further exploration.

The process of creating art using the tools of digital painting is important in a different way. It reveals much of what excites me about art. The computer allows me to overlap translucent gradients of color, and paint in a way I could never have conceived of using conventional painting methods.  I can manipulate and change my paintings in ways that continue to remain magical. The language of art is unchanged, but the tools I am using to create it require the time period we are living in.

For me, creating art needs to be fun and meditative – it also requires problem solving and experimentation to make something look the way it is supposed to look. I am always trying to push my abilities and develop new ways of working.  I firmly believe there are many ways to get to the right place – and similarly, many meanings are richer than just one.

See Also

• Blackstone Winery – it is a beautiful gallery space with enough room for 30 plus paintings in the main gallery – not mentioned on their website – but they deserve credit for continuing to utilize the space with regularly changing high quality exhibits.

Monterey Bay Colors – Dan Beck – February 2009

On certain days, there is an incredible green glow that comes from the ocean when the sun shines through.  In the month of February, the ocean – at least on this particular day – was an incredible shade of blue.

I have taken great liberties with the way I have painted the sand dunes, painted the ocean, painted the structures which butt out from the land on old Ford Ord just west of  Hiway 1  – not sure if it is Marina or Seaside – but this is not important.

What is important to me and was at the time of painting this – is the intensity of color – the remarkable show that I have never seen quite the same elsewhere.  What are these Fall colors doing in the midst of such a tropical colored ocean show?

I share this today because of the strength with which this piece is painted.

See Also

• Tropical CD Cover Art – the colors reminded me of some other art where one can “put oneself in the scene”
• Another Example – also from the same cd cover project – good album too
• Fall Color – a painting of mine by that name – oddly a passing California vineyards image

Sync Hoes – digital image – Dan Beck 2009

This painting was created in early April.  It is an image which  comes from both what I witness and what I understand.

This is often the nature of how I create – something captures my attention – in this case the in-sync hoeing that looks like a dance to a slow passing motorist.  It was the relationship of the field workers I was focused on and not the location.

There was a place – but again I was more concerned with the color.  Attention is related to understanding because so much of what we see is dependent upon what we are looking to see.

One could see the above art as abstract, as colorful, as primitive, as movement or perhaps none of the above.  It is my understanding which makes it work – I hope it works for yours as well.

See Also

• Hoe Dance – 2005 painting with a similar theme

• Original Art – exploring the meaning

Hillside Fun – digital art – Dan Beck 2008

One of the things I have improved on over the years is paying attention to the composition – so that a piece works both large and small.  With digital art – there is not necessarily an optimum size and certainly not a one and only size.

As I have taken on this medium, I keep trying to do work which utilizes the attributes which are unique to creating art on the computer. Stepping back is done by minimizing the size – and getting up close is done by magnifying.

Once a work is printed, I find they are generally stronger as they get large enough to see the detail found when creating the piece.  Texture and overlap of color come into their own in a way that is really only hinted at by a monitor screen – but yet again – seeing on a monitor may actually be closer than with a photo of a more traditional form of art.

See Also

Original Art – discussion of what it means particulary in the context of digital painting and prints on demand

Changing Landscape of Traditional Art – an internet search yielded an interesting thought but not sure if the internet has changed our access to this degree

Times Square 2 – digital art – Dan Beck 2008

I felt good about my first take on Times Square – but wanted to try to tackle the feeling again – a little more focus on the TV nature of the advertisements – still the bright color and overwhelming show – but hoping for the shape of the over the top media bombardment that is part of the fabric of life in the big city.

My life is normally situated in a more bucolic west coast – rolling hills – and farmland setting – so this is a departure from what feeds my art generally.  But what an incredible scene – the East Coast in general has such a great mix of old and new – quaint and over the top sensory bombardment – it feels like there are artistic touches everywhere.

In the Salinas Valley I am fed by nature and quick scenes which grab my attention – in the East – I was bombarded by lights – by life – by urban frenzy – and this for someone who lived back east (love that expression) for a major portion of my life.

See Also

• Digital Art – explanation of different meanings and more about what it means at Outhouse Studios
• Beautification or … the death of Times Square Eye Candy – stumbled upon this discussion about banning advertisement in San Paulo and a question of when have we gone too far…

Abstract 1 – digital art – improvisation – Dan Beck 2008

Creating an abstract painting for me is like improvising music without a chord progression. I start without a plan – just moving and creating shapes – overlapping , building, not so much thinking as observing.

The digital painting is about the process – the movements, the colors, the layering. Whatever form there is happened out of this dance of color – out of the play of comfortable swirls and movements – watching, observing – adding with balance – but not so much that is feels even and symmetrical … these are my rules – my way of doing – one layer of color at a time – occasionally coming back to an original color, but generally adding only new variations.

The black lines were not thought through either – but there seems to be a bit of a tree shape – a common theme right now – not surprising a comfortable motion would yield such a reference.

This is probably the truest dan art – if there is such a thing. All my representational, impressionist, landscape art, or figure art etc. draw from the vocabulary and techniques developed from this abstract play, and if not, it was because I permitted the same degree of looseness in the other work.

See Also

• Abstract Art Gallery – some of the abstract explorations at Outhouse Studios
• Improvisation – Milestones of the Millenium – discussion of how classical composers improvised – though not discussing how communication itself is about improvisation – music and art connect and this connects to something I was thinking about earlier today

Learning a newly written song, getting lost inside the world of a new painting, reading an excellent book are all a bit like falling in love…

I suppose anything which demands the attention such that the world stands still – that time doesn’t feel like it exists, that puts us completely in the moment and doesn’t want to let us go – has that quality.

River Spring Fauna – digital art painting – Dan Beck 2008

The art above is about the view from above – looking out on the valley – seeing the Salinas river – seeing the incredible texture and color of Spring below – that tapestry of color that pulls and mesmerizes – yes nature can pull off the effect of timelessness as well.

In the nature of out of time – and not in the fashion of deadlines – it seemed somehow appropriate on this first day (it was when I wrote this) of Spring to share a song of joy, love, and being lost or perhaps found in the world of timelessness.

Not part of the Red Eye Recordings – it is a track from 2005 CD: 1danband | dansingnew

Listen or View

• Out of Time – as described above – living in the timeless moment – in love, in life – music, words, performance, production – dan beck | outhouse studios | 1danband |dansingnew – 2005
• Keats, “Bright Star”, timelessness addressed – a very nicely done poem analysis – addressing the same kind of issues – and looking at multiple meanings rather than just one
• Digital Painting – a look at the special nature of art at outhouse studios and discussion of terms

Pinnacles 1 – digital art | digital painting – Dan Beck 2008

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing the Pinnacles up close – I have only gone once, only done the one digital painting – and did it in my normal fashion – based the piece on some of the views I saw which left an impression – combined them a little – but mostly painted from the impression they left upon me.

I painted it that afternoon, the images were fresh in my inner view.

The color of the sky – though not remotely real to the day – somehow helped to convey the feeling that these incredible rock formations had on me. The different depths – the incredible tone of colors and the massiveness probably can’t be conveyed in photo or painting, but my intent has always been to capture something more intangible.

It usually works for me – but I am triggering my own memory and I couldn’t possibly know how it reads to someone never having experienced something similar.

See Also

• Digital Art – discussion of the broad meanings of the term and the process at Outhouse Studios
• Impressionist Art Gallery – other works based on glimpse, visual memory, understanding – plus discussion of impressionist art
• Pinnacles National Monument – U.S. Parks service site with most information on this incredible rock formation

Rooted Tree – digital art – finger painting – rendering from memory impression – Dan Beck 2008

There are trees like this at one of the places I frequent with my exercise craving dog – it took me a while to notice them.

But like with most things – once one finally sees something – one starts to see the same thing more frequently. Even though I am an artist and probably more observant than most, I am keenly aware of how much of life I miss, until I become finally aware.

Perception, attention, and understanding are all fascinating subjects – I paint from an impression – a memory – quite frequently – knowing that my understanding plays an even bigger role in what I project when painting.

The intention here is not fantasy, but fun and freedom to portray the essential double rooted nature of these trees on the hillside – blasting with my own color but attempting to convey

the beauty and oddness that strikes me and makes me smile when I see them.

See Also

• Composite Nature: A Conversation with Stan Brakhage – an image search result for double rooted nature – found the work rather interesting
• Celebrated Poets – another interesting search result – the top poem seems to even relate
• Digital Art – a look at the wide definitions and usage for the digital art term – and what it means at Outhouse Studios

Integration – digital art / digital painting / original prints – Dan Beck 2007

As much as I think this is a sweet scene, I find it to be as much of a commentary of the way things could be.

The sunset was real – the image can’t do life justice. But then again it does enunciate what was so cool. The birds came out to enjoy the sunset – watching along with us – different colors (different ethnicity’s?) side by side in harmony with the ocean the beach and the sky – a rocking evening.

For us observing – we were integrated into the scene as well – something about natural beauty that can do that. If you feel a little like you are out there with us – I have done my job. If not, I have a least done my part at digital beauty duty.

See Also

• Digital Art – discussion of the wide range of meanings and possibilities associated with being digital
• Flickr: Discussing Save Nature ~ Save Beauty ~ in Beautiful Capture – my point from the angle of photography – there are things in nature which are universally beautiful – if we could just tap into with each other