Painting is not distinct from everyday life, but is a way of connecting directly with that life. As the language I speak best in, painting is my way of articulating, and sharing, the experience of living. The people, places and things I encounter on a daily basis are the inspiration for my work; the experience of being in a given place at a given time, of paying attention to momentary nuances and changes – now the sun shifts, the wind rises and shadows lengthen, colors deepen – is at the heart of what I do and why I do it. Life requires participation, a willingness to see and be affected. And painting can open us to seeing what is there, or even, more than we think is there: the extraordinary beauty of the perfectly ordinary.
The interplay of immediacy and fluidity in perception and response in the world around us also holds true for how I hope my work is seen. I am a perceptual artist, taking in the world as it presents and unfolds itself. Rather than tell you what I “intended” or think I “captured”, I hope we meet in the moment. My work is what you see, experience and feel now, as you stand with it, just as it is also imbued by what I saw, felt and experienced as I painted.
Painting “en plein air” in “one-take” sessions, my style is gestural – quick and loose, ceding control and letting go, not privileging things as they are supposed to be, but as they happen. For years, I was immersed in the simplicity of black and white, making hundreds of charcoal drawings learning the richness of light and dark. At present, I am working in oils, trying to learn and express individual color vibrations, how colors relate and interact and their affective potential, alone and in juxtaposition. In addition to the complexities of color, texture and material, my style is evolving in response to the challenge of painting in the midst of others, in the heart and on the streets of New York. Seeing and being seen are now intertwined: the isolated artist becomes a public spectacle, and must attempt to stay present, true to the experience and all that it holds.
Education
Art Students League, New York, NY, 2006 - 2007
Tom X Drive‑Thru School of Art, Santa Monica, California, 1998, 2001
State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, 1994 – 1996, B.F.A. in Painting
Monroe Community College, Rochester, NY, 1993 – 1994, A.A.S. in Liberal Art
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2008
“New York Street Paintings” September 2 - October 3, Union Theological Seminary, James Chapel, New York, NY
“New York Street Paintings” June – August, Oslo Coffee Co., Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
2004
“Paintings” December 5 – January 31, Tambaleo, Austin, TX
2003
“Light and Power” September 4 – September 28, Art Farm Gallery, Austin, TX
2002
“Daniel Burns” June 6 – June 27, Art Farm Gallery, Austin, TX
“Bright and Bold” October 6 – November 2, Paradise Café, Austin, TX
2001
“Recent Works” June 9 - June 30, Art Farm Gallery, Austin, TX
Group Exhibitions
2008
“Painting the Town: Austin Originals”, May 5 – May 31, Art on 5th, Austin, TX
“Lost and Found”, February – April 9, Austin-Bergstom International Airport, Austin, TX
“The Student Concours”, March 5 - 11, Phyllis Harriman Gallery at The Art Students League, New York, NY
2007
“The Student Concours”, December 5 - 11, Phyllis Harriman Gallery at The Art Students League, New York, NY
“East Austin Studio Tour”, November 17 & 18, Austin, TX
“House Show II”, August 5, Daniel Burns Studio, Austin TX
2006
“East Austin Studio Tour”, November 18 & 19, Austin, TX
“House Show”, August 20, Daniel Burns Studio, Austin TX
2005
“Blue Genie Art Bazaar”, December 7 – December 24, Blue Genie Art Industries, Austin, TX
“East Austin Studio Tour”, November 19 & 20, Austin, TX
“FACET” April 23 & 24, Palmer Event Center, Austin, TX
2004
“Blue Genie Art Bazaar”, December 9 – December 19, Blue Genie Art Industries, Austin, TX
“East Austin Studio Tour”, November 20 & 21, Austin, TX
“Contemporary Paintings”, January 30 – March 5, Concordia University, Austin, TX
“Electricity and Me: Magnets and Unseen Forces”, October 14 – October 30, Gallery Lombardi, Austin, TX
2003
“Christmas Assembly”, December 5 – January 4, Gallery Lombardi, Austin, TX
“East Austin Studio Tour”, November 22, Austin, TX
“Preview 2003”, January 8 – March 1, , Artist Gallery and Studios on 6th, Austin, TX
2002
“ Dog Days of Summer” August 1 – August 31, Artist Gallery and Studios on 6th, Austin, TX
“New Visions” November 1 – December 21, Artist Gallery and Studios on 6th, Austin, TX
2001
“Holiday Bizarre Invitational” December 6 – 21, Art Farm Gallery, Austin, TX
“Xmas Expo” November 29 – January 26, Gallery Lombardi, Austin, TX
“Tense” Art Farm Gallery, Austin, TX
“Guadalupe Arts Tenant Show” July 10 – July 28, ACA Gallery, Austin, TX
“Just Been Fired” June 7 – June 30, Gallery Lombardi, Austin, TX
“Austin Art Scene II” March 13 – March 31, ACA Gallery, Austin, TX