An Interview with Artist Daniel Garringer
Visual Antithesis: An Exhibition by Daniel Garringer is featured in our Red Cloud Opera House Gallery through May 10. We recently spoke with Garringer, an artist from Kearney, Nebraska, about his artistic process and inspirations.
"I enjoy painting objects that show signs of passing through time. Worn, rusted, bent, scratched, any evidence that the item has been around and could tell stories of earlier times. That coupled with objects or parts of the composition that will cause the viewer to pause for a moment and say, 'Wait, why is that?'”
Tell us a bit about your relationship to your art and inspiration, especially for your exhibit at the Red Cloud Opera House.
I have long been of the opinion that you should paint what you know. The subject matter in my work is the world around me that I experience. It is my belief that when an artist elects to work as a contemporary realist, it is of high value to have a knowledge of the subject matter being depicted. With regards to the inspiration of my work, it often stems from a position I have regarding our culture and how I can express that visually. The juxtaposition of objects is one of the ways I attempt to accomplish the goal to communicate this position.
What led you to becoming an artist? Did you always draw and paint as a child?
Several factors were a part of my artistic development. I think most people have a desire to create. How this desire is supported is a critical part of determining the path each individual takes. Drawing was something that I recall my older brother being very talented at and I guess I saw what was possible. I enjoyed drawing and spent free-time as a kid doing just that, but also creating in other ways such as building structures and aesthetically improving spaces. As a young boy I was provided with items like an Etch-a-Sketch™, Play-Doh™, a colored pencil drawing activity, along with endless paper to draw on from my mom who brought home scrap paper from the schools where she worked.
I still have my wood-burning tool that came with a set of wood designs to complete and paint. In school I discovered that when we got a chance to have an art class it was one of the most enjoyable parts of the week. I was encouraged when teachers would recognize the work I had produced. Once in high school, I continued to enjoy art, taking as many classes as were allowed for the credits I needed to graduate. It was during that time that my art teacher, Jack Shofstall, introduced me to the works of Andrew Wyeth.
I can truly say even with the support I had in the arts, as an eighteen-year-old kid I really didn’t know what I wanted to do for a career. I was encouraged to submit an application, for what was then called a tuition waiver, for the visual art program at Kearney State College. Receiving that waiver would be one of three major factors that then led to my pursuit of a career in teaching. The others would be the fact that my mother was a teacher and my girlfriend (who is now my wife) was pursuing a career in education. Any art educator will share that being an artist follows hand-in-hand with being an art teacher. It’s just extremely difficult to find time to produce your own art.
What was it like teaching art and why is it so important for young students to learn about, or make, art?
I quickly discovered that teaching art would leave little time for one’s own artistic pursuits. I had to embrace that mindset and found great pleasure in helping young students be successful in their artistic ventures. One of my favorite parts of teaching was creating new activities that were “fool proof” for students to be successful, yet challenging enough that they would have ownership in the final work. But teaching involves so much more than teaching a subject. It involves the development of each individual as a whole and each student has a different need for, and reason, to create. In general, helping students to be able to observe, problem solve, and communicate in the visual arts helps them to better understand the world we live in, what it looked like before, and what it may look like in the future.
What would you advise to someone who wants to pursue a career in studio art or teaching art?
Even though I taught art for thirty years, the learning curve between transitioning from an educator to a studio artist has been eye opening. For someone desiring to become an art educator, I would say, “be prepared.” Teaching a lab class requires endless hours of prepping and managing materials. Focus on the success of the students and relationships that can be formed, knowing that you can be a huge influence in your student’s lives and that you play a role in it being positive or negative.
As a studio artist, I have found that just being retired from teaching didn’t simply mean studio time would be plentiful. I find myself pulled from the studio to spending time promoting on social media (maybe my least favorite thing to do), keeping expense records (part of being self employed), taxes (ditto), searching for venues to exhibit and market my art, applying to shows, ordering supplies, maintaining a website, and the list goes on. With all that said, the piece of advice I would lean on is have a direction for the majority of your work and allow yourself some time to experiment with some different media, if for no other reason than to not lose the joy of creating art.
Do you have a favorite work or two in this exhibit?
This is a question I am often asked and here’s the response. I liken them to my children, there are things about each of them that I really enjoy, but I don’t have a favorite.
Do you paint from memory, photographs, live—or all methods?
My paintings take weeks and in some cases months to complete which means that not only do shadows change, but the season can change as well. So no, I don’t paint on site. I will have one primary photograph that I have taken and use as a main reference in my studio. I also take multiple photographs of a potential subject matter and from varied angles and distances. This allows me to determine how a shadow may fall across certain parts of the composition. At times I will go back and revisit a location and even take more photographs if needed. There are times when the photograph doesn’t provide enough visual information and revisiting the location is not feasible or I may be altering the original subject matter to align with the theme of the work. This may require some research on my part to gather more information about the subject matter or the changes I’m desiring to make to the original objects. In addition, since at times objects are placed in the composition that were not in the original photograph, I will bring the actual object into my studio and draw it into the composition. One such example of this can be seen in the painting titled Intolerance. The welcome mat was from our front entry and the thermometer was from my chiropractor’s office.
What are your favorite subjects to paint?
I enjoy painting objects that show signs of passing through time. Worn, rusted, bent, scratched, any evidence that the item has been around and could tell stories of earlier times. That coupled with objects or parts of the composition that will cause the viewer to pause for a moment and say, “Wait, why is that?”
My painting titled Cycles of Deaths (shown right) features a bucket of white paint that was used to whitewash a small portion of the crumbling fence that is beyond repair.
Can you share a particular memory or story that led to one of your paintings?
Yes, while painting Distracted (above) I was still shooting film in my camera and needed to finish a roll so it could be developed. We had taken out our clay pots and set them along the driveway, eventually to plant flowers in them. In the meantime, the daisies grew up around them. I took multiple pictures of the pots and flowers to use up the roll of film. When I got the film back and looked at the photographs, I realized the potential statement to be made with the image. Life had gotten so busy that we were unable to get the flowers planted in a timely manner, but the daisies growing up around the pots and the assortment of interesting stones surrounding them were still aesthetically pleasing. It can be really easy to get distracted in life and not take in the beauty around us. To emphasize this theme, I added in an overly large dandelion and other grassy weeds. Many times I have had people tell me that the work would be really nice if I had not added in the dandelion. Mission accomplished!
Do you work in other subjects or mediums not represented in this exhibit?
Yes, as I mention in an earlier comment, being able to allow yourself a chance to work in other mediums can help keep the passion for creating. Since 2020 I have been creating small ( 2.5” x 2.5”) colored pencil drawings of Nebraska and the surrounding areas. These small works, in addition to being a different medium, can be completed in as little as a single day.
There is definitely a strong influence of Andrew Wyeth in your work. Could you elaborate on that and have there been other artists who have inspired your own artistic journey—and/or mentors?
I have studied Wyeth's textures created on surfaces, the structures of the trees he paints, the color palette used, and his incredible tangles of weeds and grasses. When he passed, I created a painting titled Trodden Ceased. His painting titled Trodden Weed was said to be one of the only self portraits he ever did. The painting I created as a tribute to his legacy used several elements that were parts of paintings that had direct connections to his life.
In college, I had a painting instructor named Keith Lowry that was very encouraging. He also demonstrated the continued pursuit of his craft. I recall walking into his office and seeing large paintings he was working on propped up against the wall with fantastic sky scapes developing on the canvases. I even spent one semester of an independent painting class trying to mimic the skies that he depicted in these large paintings.
In my years of teaching, I have introduced students to numerous artists. I enjoy the mobiles of Alexander Calder, the gigantic portraits created by Chuck Close and his gridded portraits that he created after a spinal collapse limited his ability to continue the realist portraits. René Magritte’s Surrealist works might be one I would credit for some influence. While he placed objects in impossible positions in his compositions, I have found that this placement in unusual, but not completely impossible, positions aids in causing the viewer to have that moment of pause that will hopefully develop into a deeper study of the work they are viewing.
Join us for an artist reception in the Red Cloud Opera House Gallery, Friday, April 4, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. The event is free of charge.