D A N I E L F L E M I N G A R T - Wet Paint

D A N I E L F L E M I N G A R T

Natural Remedy.

8/22/2023

Natural Remedy has been in progress for years, I've just never really had any endgame for it.

I've submitted multiple mural and show proposals, and while it's always been well received, it's never quite gotten across the finish line and actually "won the prize". I've used it for live art, gotten to some final rounds of jurying, and even used a few paintings for freelance design projects, but it's just never had the full green light. As a result, I've created one-offs throughout the years, each time remembering what drew me to the concept in the first place.

There's just something appealing about letting the natural world show off. Whether it's, natural history museums, cabinets of curiosities of old, illustrated encyclopedias, botanical gardens or just walking through a parks, experiencing nature leaves its mark no matter how that experience happens.

Natural Remedy seeks to bring that into the home, on the side of a wall, or into a gallery space.

Utilizing a style inspired by illustrated guides and the practice of pressing and drying plants, Natural Remedy is meant to evoke a sense of wonder, educate the viewer on the natural world around them, and place icons of nature onto their deserved pedestal, similar to religious icons, personal artifacts, and momentos.

The simplicity of the marks and lack of refinement brings a sense of playfulness, while the flat rendering and somewhat static layout is meant to evoke both an academic aura and elevate the objects to a place of reverence. A smaller size also gives the paintings and objects an approachability that gives each a sense of intimacy, further enhancing their sacrility.

On a grand scale, the paintings become enveloping; overwhelming in a wholly different sense; that impression of a vast universe with secrets and intricacies just waiting for discovery.

I'm excited to finally bring this series to view at the Urban Ecology Center in the Menomonee Valley later this winter (more info coming), and hope to continue the project and hopefully find that open wall where I'll finally be able to execute a large scale version.

Keep an eye out for more info on the show, check out the shop as I continue adding the artwork as it comes to life, and reach out with any interest in a painting or mural of your own!

Portraits.

8/10/2023

The list of projects I've planned to some degree and haven't yet done is essentially never-ending. From painting series, to a list of titles, to shows, illustrations, books and even movie pitches, if I ever find ample free-time (or could concentrate for more than 30 seconds at a time) there's a bottomless well of ideas from which to pull. Well...get ready to check one thing off the list.

I'm going to start doing portraits. Nothing realistic but more like Alice Neel or David Hockney; capturing the feel of the atmosphere and impression of the sitter. It will definitely be a new experience and I'm not entirely sure what to expect, but I'm excited to spend some time with friends and bring them a little closer to such an important part of my life, painting.

A Tale of Two Paintings

7/29/2023

There are few subjects I return to more often than the landscape and the still life. When I was younger I thought it was important to mimic what the legends did and felt like doing still lives and landscapes gave me a connection to the past. As if the greats and I had the same sort of common ground to which we could all relate. Even in college, while others complained about learning fundamentals and scoffed at 'boring' assignments, I always tried to get what I could out of them, create something 'good', and find value in aspects of art I wouldn't explore without a teacher forcing me.

Nowadays, I regularly return to both subjects, though usually with very different purposes for each.

The Still Life has always been "easy". You simply paint what's there and usually there's some interaction of shape, pattern, or object that creates intrigue. Inject some symbolism into those objects and you not only have a nice painting, but one that has a message as well. It's a subject matter that doesn't require more thought, but can be enhanced with it. It's a great exercise for the pure enjoyment of painting, and also one that can lead to something more.

The landscape, for me, has always been a little more of a self-portrait. Yes, you could address it similarly to the still life and just paint what's there, but counter to the indoor nature of a still life, you have the built in expectation of "atmosphere". Is the wind blowing? Is it hot and humid or a cool comfortable morning? Is the sun shining brightly, peaking through clouds, or unseen? Are we in the open or under a canopy? What animals and insects are buzzing around or is it before the first snow and the animals have gone silent? All these aspects add to the scene and automatically bring an emotion or start of a narrative. Add in figures and the landscape becomes a stage just waiting for the performance.

In some sense I approach the still life like a snapshot...a still taken from life capturing a moment in time. It may be metaphorical, but is defined by its stoicism, almost sculptural in its stillness. The landscape is more like the beginning of a movie. A scene is revealed, figures find their place, and we're left with a glimpse at a developing story.

I suppose I've always looked at a still life as representative of something that has already happened, the remnants of activity. Landscape is activity itself, fleeting and hard to define. Though many see still life and landscape as boring vestiges of traditional style and technique, I've always seen them as far more than that and have always been enamored with the ways "contemporary" artists of the day dealt with traditional subjects. While I once worried that my art was old-fashioned and fought any inclination toward tradition I've come to treasure the exploration of these time-honored subjects in my regular practice and value that connection to history that, even in grade school, made me feel like I was engaging in a secret hand-shake of sorts with artists of the past.

Goals & Art.

7/21/2023

I found that if you have a goal, that you might not reach it. But if you don't have one, then you are never disappointed.
- Peter Lefleur.

Taking the advice of a fictional character whose main feature was the inability to run a profitable business is questionable, but the point stands.

I've been feeling a bit apathetic toward some art, illustration and freelance. When the point was to enjoy the process of creation and maybe get a few virtual high-fives from friends, it was easy to succeed. One simply spends endless hours making art, design and illustrations without questioning the value or validity of such a practice and, whatever the result, you've won. You'll get the occasional bonus of a commission or sale, but you've already succeeded without that.

When you turn your attention more toward the business side, it becomes easy to fail. All of the sudden that drawing you thought would sell starts looking a bit lackluster as it sits on the shelf without any orders, that painting you thought was meaningful seems a bit more self-indulgent, and that ever-growing pile of art (aka inventory or storage) becomes less promising and more evocative of a delusional hoarding situation than a valuable asset worth keeping.

On one hand, I know I can't stop making art...on the other I question the ultimate value if the eventuality is it sitting in a storage unit for eternity. I've always felt that art is a somewhat self-indulgent practice. You have to believe you have something valuable to put on canvas, otherwise why would you take the time, why would you think anyone would want it, and why would anyone want it if not? But when faced with realities that counter that belief, do you persevere or take heed? Do you ignore superficial goals and acknowledge there's a deeper value or do you address the failure head-on and make changes accordingly? And what would those changes even be?

If my passion was making concrete monoliths and had a backyard full of them, would it be advisable to continue using resources and space for objects that have no inherent value? If my passion was playing poker and I never won, would I keep entering tournaments? When it comes to the creative side of things, there's a value to the maker that is hard if not impossible to quantify, but does that value outweigh the perceived lack of value the rest of the world seems to give it? Should that matter?

Like I said, I know I won't stop making art...but I also don't want to ignore reality when it comes to measurable real-world goals. I suppose, whatever the answer, I'm just not entirely sure where addressing those realities leads and if that, in some ways, negates the other kinds of success one might achieve.

Oh the joys of being an artist...on to the next painting.

The Commercial Side of the Studio

7/4/2023

There's just about nothing I look forward to more than getting started on a large-scale painting, free from any plan or purpose other than enjoying the process itself. And while that is how i spend a lot of my time in the studio, it's far from the only "style" i explore.

I've been given the advice countless times in my life that artists need to focus on one style, going so far as to repeat the same subject, theme, or composition exclusively. I understand the intent and the value of such "branding" but I also can't imagine anything more dull.

Much like my day job as a designer, illustration and "commercial" art, in my opinion, provide an important respite from the more "fine art" side of things, and even fuels thoughts and compositions I may not have otherwise considered. I often say that illustration, design, and commercial art are like putting a puzzle together while the "fine art", for lack of a better term, is like creating a puzzle from scratch. Both approaches are enjoyable in their own right, but the latter requires a deeper focus and commitment that I am not always up for. Sometimes I just want to doodle and draw spaceships and dinosaurs, so to speak, and literally.

I think my biggest problem is not giving illustration, design and commercial art its due credit (for instance referring to "fine art" as such, inferring the others are inferior in some way). I tend to operate under the assumption my painting deserves the vast majority of my energy, but I've come to understand that its extremely important, at least for me, to take steps away from what you know creatively and explore other techniques and ideas as regularly as possible. While I will always be an artist that constantly creates, I think the future will see a bit more of an even spread when it comes to the projects I decide to pursue.

Color and Composition

6/27/2023

When I am trying to unwind I usually take the scale down a few notches, pull out a paper pad and markers and play around with color and composition. The size and media relieve some of the pressures that come with a larger surface (wanting it to be good, for instance) plus getting to complete a composition and cover a surface in 30 minutes rather than 6 hours is a lot of fun. Occasionally these smaller drawings will vaguely inspire a painting or, even rarer, get reproduced in large-scale, but I'm just not much of a planner when it comes to painting and that's really not the point.

One goal I have is focusing a bit more on showing off the smaller-scale side of the studio, as I've rarely shown any of the hundreds (if not thousands) of works on paper I've done over the years in between larger paintings. It's not that I didn't think they were worth it, I've just always been a bit more excited to show and make larger scale stuff. But as i've been drawing more and more lately, I'm rediscovering the passion for the smaller scale and there's something unique that comes with the immediacy of drawing.

Waking up in the water.

6/26/2023

Awake in the Shallows.
30x40″
Acrylic and water on rough canvas.

There's a moment when emerging from a dream where reality and imagination mix. For a split second the real world interacts directly with your subconscious, but even in the dream-state one can usually determine that something is amiss. The dream begins to fall apart as something rather than everything grabs your attention.

Embracing Chance.

6/26/2023

Light the Way.
30x40″
Acrylic on recycled canvas.

Sometimes you have to let art be your guide.

This painting was born by the one before it. I took the canvas for "Jugglers" off its stretcher bars and the backing canvas had this great abstract composition created from the last painting leaking through. Deep blues and greens covered the majority of the surface in these varied patches that looked more like worn siding than acrylic paint. small pops of yellow and red peaked through in the top portion like little balls of light. Sometimes the hardest part of moving forward with a painting is taking the first step in covering up a background you like...

"Light the Way" references the image ultimately created and the background that inspired the resulting composition. Sometimes you need to relinquish your power and allow an outside source to reveal the path before you.

From the Vaults

6/19/2023

I Can Do It All Without Help or Hustle.
48x60″
Acrylic and ink on loose canvas.

Meant to be one in a series that never got beyond the first two paintings, although there's always a chance to bring it back, this painting and the series were about stubbornness and our inability to hand off responsibility, despite a full plate before us. Not stubbornness in a selfish way, but the type of stubbornness that leads you to take on more than you can chew. A stubbornness built from self-confidence, pride, ability, and the desire to accomplish and help rather than a distrust of others.

Sometimes we CAN do it all on our own and keeping things in-house is the easiest way to go. Sometimes a burden is too heavy and you have to admit that the load needs to be lessened. I Can Do It All Without Help or Hustle, along with its companion, were meant to display this blind stubbornness in an obvious and somewhat comical manner; here depicting a figure literally weighed down by their task, attempting to wade through the encroaching water. Any viewer or participant of this scene can easily recognize the figure is in need of help, or at the very least, should not be tasked with solving this problem on their own, but our figure silently floats by, somewhat controlling their flock but adding to the predicament with each passing wave.

The Juggler.

6/19/2023

The Juggler.
30x40”
We readily recognize the skill required when watching a juggler perform their talent, moving from 2 to 3 to 7 balls, introducing fragile, sharp or flaming objects, dazzling the audience as they defy injury or embarrassment by keeping their chosen objects aloft. Much less obvious, if not willfully ignored, is the skill required by each of us as we navigate our ever-changing landscape and hoist countless responsibilities onto our shoulders hour upon hour, day after day.

The danger may not be as immediate as a collection of knives flying overhead, but the consequences could be more severe. Juggling debts, relationships, work, schedules, family interests and personal goals, while not as life-threatening as a flying, flaming sword, certainly carry their potential for damage, both short and long-term. Despite this, each of us plods through our plight, many times graciously accepting new challenges while refusing offers of help. If our responsibilities were as obviously perilous as a juggler mid-performance, perhaps we’d give each other a little more space, allow ourselves a bit more forgiveness, and realize each interaction is infused with an unseen mountain of influence that each person is impacted by in unknowable ways.