Dancer Emily

by David R. Darrow 6" x 9" (15.2cm x 22.9cm)
Oil on Canvas mounted on Panel SOLD Collection of Faith Hudnell
New York, NY – USA

About This Painting

I had a conversation very recently about what it is that really makes people what they call themselves... or what they really are, almost as an identity.

There are many people who dance, but few are "dancers." It's hard to describe what I mean without holding up two fingers on each of my hands and dramatizing the quotes around each end of the word "dancer" to make my point.

There are musicians and then there are "musicians" — there are artists, and then there are "artists."

It goes beyond what the person does... it goes into their soul. Or maybe it's better put that what they do comes out of their soul. They live and breathe it. It comes so naturally to them, yet they continue to work at it, all their lives, never satisfied completely, yet never dissatisfied enough to stop. Always learning, always working, always improving. They must do it.

Emily is a dancer from the soul.

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San Diego Magazine Article

David R. Darrow in his home studio
San Diego Magazine, December 2006, Pg 42

A small article appears in this month's issue of San Diego Magazine about me and the concept of 'Daily Painting' and selling on eBay (it's the second article down). It's a short article, but hits all the major points on why I do what I do.

My thanks to author Julia Beeson, for her interest in my work, and for taking the time interview me. It was fun to read, and I appreciate the exposure!

I want to note to my fellow Daily Painters that in the interview I mentioned the group, the DailyPainters.com site, and even the links of several of you, but which did not make it into the article.

Taking a Few Days Off

Happy Thanksgiving, all! I am putting down the brushes and taking some time off to, among other things, be thankful during this week. I am grateful to God for the eyes he gave me that see color in shadows and differing tones in sunlight as the day passes. I am thankful that my eyes constantly perceive form, and that roses are hard to paint becasue they are just that beeautiful. I am grateful that women have curves, and that metals reflect, that every piece of fruit is as different as humans are from each other, and that real beauty is to be found beneath the skin. I am grateful for the people that come into my life, for those I will see each day, for those I may never see again, and for those I will only see on the Other Shore. I am thankful that I can make a living doing something I love, and that what I do also connects to other people. I am thankful that I live in America, where the Thanksgiving tradition has its deepest roots, and where our forefathers understood Divine Providence, from which I benefit as surely as did they. I am thankful to have been re-united with my sons this year, and to have an ongoing loving relationship with my daughter. I am grateful even for the pains of life, for I know that it builds character, which is much more important than my comfort or happiness.

Fairbanks Ranch Falls

by David R. Darrow 7" x 5" (17.78cm x 12.7cm)
Oil on Stretched Canvas SOLD Collection of Carlyle Dallas
Farmington, NM – USA

About This Painting

If this looks like I have switched to doing abstracts, I haven't. This was a very fast painting. It's an oil sketch, in fact, for an intended larger painting. (If, however, you absolutely love abstracts, well then, call me Picasso and read no further. Just bid.)

In early 2005 I went plein air painting with a friend from Art Center days.

She had access to the private areas of San Diego County's exclusive gated community Fairbanks Ranch, named after Hollywood film legend Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

Beyond the huge community center, dance hall and lake, there was a path that led to this little ravine, where I stood in the middle of a footbridge with my French easel, brushes and palette and quickly captured the colors and basic shapes of the natural waterfall and stream that flowed from the background and zig-zagged under the bridge beneath me.

One reason for my haste was the growing blackening sky, as a pretty decent rain storm finally put an end to our plein air day.

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Grizzled

by David R. Darrow 6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel SOLD Collection of Rocky and Judith Hafdahl
San Juan Capistrano, CA – USA

About This Painting

This is only my second-ever painting in a Western genre.

I love looking at western art, myself, because it can give me a glimpse into an era or a way of life I could never otherwise know.

When I think about the brave men, women and children that took such enormous chances working their way west to California, or the modern ones who still farm on a daily basis, grueling 14-hour days to keep the family ranch in the family, or scrape together enough of a living to feed the children, I have to give them a nod of appreciation.

When I compare their lives to mine, I have to admire what these cowboys, ranchers and wranglers do. Kinda makes me feel like pushing dabs of paint into the right places on a canvas isn't really work... but it what I do best, and seems it's all I've got.

This tired, grizzled old fella, is just resting a while after a hard day's work, thinking about tomorrow's work that'll start in a just a few short hours, not long after supper.

His "see-gar" isn't allowed in the house, so he jots down mental notes with in the barn, a list of to-dos flowing easily through his mind like the smoke from the cigar in the darkening stillness.

Here's to the tough, hardworking Americans that built this country and keep it alive.

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Ashley's Dream

by David R. Darrow 9" x 6" (22.86cm x 15.24cm)
Oil on Canvas SOLD Collection of Patricia Harris
Ragley, LA – USA

About This Painting

Ashley dreams of being a professional dancer. A ballet dancer, to be more specific.

She is the only child of a woman with whom I attended art school, and she has been raised with love and devotion. She is an energetic, healthy and happy teen. I met her when she was 14, and was immediately taken by her beautiful face, her attentiveness when speaking to her, her polite and gracious ways.

When talking to her she would look me straight in the eye, and would answer back with thought-out answers... full paragraphs... not the usual one word grunts you hear from most teens.

When she was off talking with her girlfriends, she would be fully engaged with them, talking, listening, laughing or breaking into song with them, but at the same time raising her leg high in the air, first bent at the knee, toes pointed, then straight up above her head, toes now pointed toward the heavens, all the while chitchatting with her friends who had seen this so often they didn't even notice, let alone marvel as I did.

She is simply a sweet little woman, with a sincere and lovely heart.

I hope her dream of becoming a professional dancer comes true.

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Communion

by David R. Darrow 6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)
Oil on Canvas on Birch Panel SOLD Collection of Carol Schaeper
Temple, TX – USA

About This Painting

Communion. To share in common. To break bread.

The essence of true friendship, true love.

Symbolized with the most basic elements of friends gathering around a table for intimate conversation: bread and wine. It doesn't get anymore basic than that. Nor more rich with flavor.

And yet the meaning of it all is so deep. So rich in detail, yet so ambiguous in its apparent simplicity.

For the meeting of our most basic of needs, we give thanks.

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Today's Specials

by David R. Darrow 6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)
Oil on Canvas on Birch Panel SOLD Collection of Nicole Caulfield
Keene, NH – USA

About This Painting

I haven't done a lot of traveling.

I have been an hour and a half south of the border below San Diego, CA, to Ensenada, Mexico... And I think that when I was 13 I actually set foot in Canada up there at Niagara Falls when we drove across the US on a family trip... maybe not. That was a long time ago, and I wasn't paying attention.

Anyway, you probably gather that I don't get out much.

Consequently, I don't know if the rest of the world's restaurants are like they are in America, in that any restaurant you go into whether Persian, Italian, Mexican, Japanese, Indian; name it, they will have salt and pepper shakers on the table.

The two basic spices of life.

These condiments and their reflection on the dark, polished-wood table just happened to catch my eye on a trip to Salt Lake City, UT last year. I was there on business, and to satisfy my thirst in the evening I went in search of a good hand-crafted ale, and was directed to a warm, popular little haven called Squatter's Pub.

The ale was ice cold and delightful. If you're ever in Salt Lake City, I do recommend Squatter's.

Would you like to know what the Today's Specials were?

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