DPW Spotlight Interview: Todd Derr

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings. To enter to win Todd's painting "Wipe Out Rock" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Todd's DPW Gallery Page:

Born, 1968

Todd Derr is an artist who works primarly "en plein air" or paints directly from life. His oil paintings of his surroundings are an attempt to capture the sublime beauty of an ever changing world. Todd was born and grew up in rural Indiana and has always been an avid outdoorsman, exploring the woods and creeks around his home. His love of hiking, canoe/kayaking, cycling, and just being outside, led to a natural fit to become a plein air painter. He loves to travel and paint.

Todd is an Air Force veteran and spent many years as a technician in civilian life before deciding to dedicate the rest of his life to pursue his dream to become a full time artist.

Todd has recently moved to Cleveland, Tennessee and is looking forward to exploring and painting that beautiful part of the country.

AWARDS:

Apr. 2019 - Honorable Mention, First Brush of Spring Plein Air Competition, New Harmony, IN
Apr. 2019 - 1st Place, Henderson Society of Art, A Fresh Perspective Exhibition, Audubon Museum. Henderson, KY.
Nov. 2018 - Award of Merit, Indiana Plein Air Painters Association Members Exhibition, Carmel, IN.
Oct. 2018 - Award of Excellence, Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Exhibition, McBride Gallery, Annapolis, MD. Judge, Kathy Anderson
Sep. 2108 - 3rd place, Owensboro Museum of Fine Art Buffalo Plein Air Paint Out, Owensboro, KY.
Sep. 2018 - 1st and 3rd Place, Village Paint Out, Brown County Art Guild, Nashville, IN.

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I guess it started when I was a toddler and got into some paint in the garage and "custom" painted some of my toys and my dad's collection of slot cars (remember those in the '70's?). I must have always been compelled to put paint on something. My grandmother saw my potential and would always buy me art supplies and I would occupy myself for hours. Come to think of it, she had a pastoral landscape in her living room that I always was attempting to copy. It was in the vein of the Hudson River School.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

Definitely! After high school, I attended a local college, but got bored and impatient, and dropped out to enlist in the Air Force. I spent four years serving, but continued to draw while I was there. After I was discharged (honorably) I came home and ultimately went to work for my uncle's HVAC business. During that time I picked up an airbrush and taught myself to use it and began painting motorcycle helmets, Harleys, race cars with crazy paint jobs, flames and skulls and all of that. I eventually quit my job and devoted my time to that for many years until the economy tanked around 2008. I had been dabbling with watercolor and landscape painting too, so my wife and I decided I should stay home and take care of our kids and work on that side of my art.

Since then, I have worked full time at my art and moved over to oils and plein air about six years ago.

Wipe Out Rock
(click to view)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Todd's interview.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

Everything from automotive urethanes, to watercolor, pastels, charcoal, and oils. I'm not much of a fan of acrylics for some reason. Genre wise, I'm mostly a plein air landscape painter, but pretty much anything painted from life. Rarely paint in the studio, although this virus thing has kept me indoors mostly.

Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away?

Early on I thought I would only be a watercolorist, but I'm hopelessly in love with oils right now. I sold all of my pastels.

Mckayla
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

Right now, I'm focused on seeing what all I can get out of oils. I think between the limitless exploring on foot I can do in my new backyard here in the mountains of East TN. Oils really work great for plein air.

Who or what inspires you most?

Gosh, so many. As I'm self taught, just the process of discovery has me getting introduced to so many amazing artists' work. But, the current list of contemporaries would be Joshua Been, Jim McVicker, Matt Smith, Scott Christensen... the list could go on. Historically, I'm on the J.S. Sargent train with Sorolla, Fechin, etc.

Peekaboo
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?

Spending way too much time on social media or watching YouTube videos... usually art related, but time better spent painting.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

Keeping myself immersed and not distracted. Keeping the TV turned off and some great music playing while I'm in the studio or planning trips out to paint. Once I'm outside and thinking of painting, pretty much nothing distracts me.

Webb Bros, Reliance, Tennessee
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I don't usually have a firm idea, just some nebulous sense that I will find an interesting composition of light/dark and color while I'm out. I like to respond and interpret what's in front of me. My studio work is from my photos or plein air studies, so the idea has been established already in the field.

How do you keep art "fresh?" What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging? 

The fact that I'm constantly finding out that I don't know what I don't know. I'm the kind that can read all the books and watch all the videos, but until I do my own work and make my own discoveries, it means little. So, knowing that there is always something to learn keeps me pushing onward.

Bowl of Strawberries
(click to view)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

I feel like I've started climbing another trail up the mountain after having arrived at a certain plateau from a previous climb. Although, now I know that there is likely another plateau and more mountain to climb in the future that I could not see before.

What makes you happiest about your art?

Watching something develop from nothing. The "happy accidents" that I've learned to leave alone. Mostly, I love when people connect with my work, whether they purchase it or not.

Thanks, Todd!

© 2020 Sophie Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Lori Ellis

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings. To enter to win Lori's painting "Lemons on Blue" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Lori’s DPW Gallery Page:

My formal art education began in an intense fine art program at Cranbrook-Kingswood High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. At the University of Michigan I earned a BFA in Graphic Design. I worked in Boston and in Portland, Maine as a graphic designer and art director. I value the many things I learned in the business, but after ten years I was ready for new challenges in fine art.

The Maine landscape was the force that sent me back to painting. As much art as I had made to that point, I really hadn’t found a subject that spoke to me so deeply. I worked exclusively in pastels through the 80’s and taught my methods in adult-ed courses. After twelve years in Maine, job opportunities took us to the New Orleans area, and subsequently to Baton Rouge. I returned to school to earn my MFA from Louisiana State University. Grad school was a rich experience twenty years after undergrad. With nine painting professors to guide me, I gained a greater appreciation of contemporary art and art history. I also taught courses in drawing, color and design. 
In 2000 I joined the faculty at State University of New York, Cortland, where I taught painting, drawing, figure drawing, color, and BFA thesis courses. I also Chaired the Department of Art and Art History. I am now retired, as a Professor Emeritus, and reside in Southwest Florida.

Tell us a bit how you first started painting.

I started drawing at a young age. My grandfather loved to paint and I stayed for the weekends in his art studio/guestroom. I remember running my fingers gingerly across all of the gorgeous oil paint tubes, but he insisted I begin with drawing.

Lemons on Blue
(click to view)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Lori's interview.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I’d have to say all of them! I’ve never been able to resist trying something new. In 2D I’ve worked in oil, watercolor, acrylic, gouache, casein, pastel, charcoal, pencil, Chinese inks on rice paper... In 3D: clay, glass, metal, weaving, knitting, basketry, paper sculpture. One year I even tried to make garden sculpture out of climbing beans, but the deer defeated that effort.

Which ones have “stuck” and which ones have fallen away?

I worked for a long time in soft pastels, but oils have been my favored medium for over twenty years. I have worked with abstraction and non-objective pattern, but I really do love working from observation. I enjoy the challenge of creating an abstract underpinning of arrangement or story-line within realism.

Locally Grown
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

Color and light seem to be my continuing love and challenge. I’ve just begun to explore the unique light and shadow colors of the Florida sun.

Who or what inspires you most?

The natural world is always inspiring. Whether tending my garden or taking long walks, I always see something inspiring. Lately I am having quite a bit of fun setting up still life. It is like creating a small theater where you can make anything happen. For my beach still lifes, I have an x-large baking tray filled with sand and a shelf full of potential props that I can move outside in the sun.

Ducky Day at the Beach
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?

The only procrastination in the studio seems to be a small pile of paintings that are about ¾ finished. I am in love with something in the paintings, but there are still major problems, that may take years to solve.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

My studio is a dedicated space in my home with a very comfy arm chair. Even if I am not painting, I am looking at paintings, thinking about paintings, or planning paintings. Even on days that are busy outside the studio I always take a few minutes to peek in and get a fresh look at what is on the easel, so I am clear about what to do when I start working.

Tomatos and Tervis
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

A lot of people keep sketchbooks, but I have visual files on my computer with way more ideas than I have time to paint. Currently I use (mac) Photos and make image files grouped for possible series.

How do you keep art “fresh”? What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

As well as looking at nature I look at a lot of art. I have learned from the traditional and contemporary masters as well as my beginning students. I don’t ever look to copy, but to give myself permission to accept all my own crazy thoughts. I always knew when my advanced students were onto a great idea – they would approach me looking both excited and worried that their idea was too “crazy”.

Calm Cloud
(click to view)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

Whimsy. It has long been forbidden territory. I am trying to break my own personal myth that to be taken seriously you have to be a bit dour and “impressive”.

What makes you happiest about your art?

Happiness is certainly in eye of the beholder, but I am happiest when a painting makes me smile or opens my heart to the beauty of the world.

Sunday Lunch in Malta
(click to view)

Thanks, Lori!

© 2020 Sophie Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Carol Benally

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings. To enter to win Carol's painting "Reflection" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Carol's DPW Gallery Page:

Carol Benally Paint landscapes plein air and in the studio to create a peaceful view of the earth and sea.. She lived on the Navajo Reservation for thirty years where she painted the mesas and landforms of the Colorado Plateau. While still maintaining her heritage from the North Shore of Boston. She paints the Great Marsh of Massachusetts. Both have a quietness, solitude and open vistas that make painting them an easy transition.

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I've been painting since Jr. High School. I went to Mass college of Art and Montserrat in Beverly and have a BFA.

Reflection
(click to view)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Carol's interview.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

I always painted and have enjoyed painting landscapes my whole life. I taught public school art in Massachusetts and Arizona. But while I was teaching, I painted nights and weekends.

Evening Walk
(click to view)

What mediums and genres have you experimented with? Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away?

I went on many trips and painted outdoors on location About twenty years ago I used pastel for about ten years and sold in many galleries, and when I switched back to oils it was a challenge mixing colors and seeing all the variations that paint could give me.

At Dusk
(click to view)

Who or what inspires you most?

What inspires me the most is painting plein air, for a week at a time. Going to remote places and first absorbing the landscape, watching the colors while the sun rises and sets. I also like to look at other artists work for inspiration. My inspiration comes from Maynard Dixon, Georgia, O'keefe, Ray Robersts, a contemporary painter, all who inspire me to try harder.

As Shadows Become Night
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?

I never feel like I procrastinate; when I feel like my studio work is in a slump, I immediately go outside and find something beautiful and try to paint. A small painting gets me back on track and looking forward to my next painting.

Evening Stillness
(click to view)

Thanks, Carol!

© 2020 Sophie Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Alona Morozova

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings. To enter to win Alona's painting "Puppy" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Alona's DPW Gallery Page:

I’m artist from Latvia.

I was really inspired by idea of making small format paintings on a daily basis.

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I started painting and took it seriously quite recently, around a year ago. It had been more like splashes before that. Something emotional and inconsistent. One small book has turned unexpectedly my vision upside down… thank you, Carol Marine… :)

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

I didn’t have any stops because I didn’t have any move. I’m at the beginning of my way.

Puppy
(click to view)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Alona's interview.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with? Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away?

I have been in love with oils since the beginning.

It wasn’t easy to start with. That’s why I used to work with acrylics. But I always had a feeling that something is missing.

I like to experiment with a palette knife.

I am currently not interested in any other mediums. Who knows, I might study watercolours or pastels sometime. I sincerely admire the skilled painters who work with this.

Regarding the genres, I have started with animals, and it seems that's where I will get stuck. I adore them and love to paint them.

Bambi
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

Oh, I wish I could paint like Tibor Nagy… where reality and abstraction merge into unbelievable harmony. That is something what I would like to explore.

Who or what inspires you most? 

An opportunity to make paintings inspires me a lot. Also, when someone likes and needs my work. Private commissions of pets are very inspiring as well. There’s always something that grabs my attention when browsing photos of animals. There are always some details to put on canvas like face expression or funny action. Those ones that make me laugh or smile are my favourite.

Video workshops especially when I feel disappointed.

Set of new oils or palette knives can do a job. There is an instant passion to try it straight away.

Me and My Friend
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?  

It's ironic that I hate when something or someone takes my time away from painting... but... as soon as I get it... I drink tea with a chocolate bar! And it's horrible!

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

A technique called "When no one's at home," and the second one is "I’ve got a commission."

Smile!
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

Sometimes I get an idea when I browse huge number of photos. Sometimes a canvas size or shape gives me a hint. Also, when I work and realise that something goes completely wrong, I remove what I have done and straight after that I get a clue to what I should do.

How do you keep art "fresh?" What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

Probably the fact that I don’t deal with art full time and have a lot of family responsibilities saves me from burnout. Therefore, I’m hungry for painting most of the time.

Parrot Portrait
(click to view)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

I feel like a person who has just learned the alphabet and is starting to write.

What makes you happiest about your art?

When I get a result and I want to kiss it or caress it. Or when I work and notice that I’m periodically smiling.

Thanks, Alona!

© 2020 Sophie Marine