Dan Brenton
What are your earliest memories of being artistic? I remember always being interested in the big tub of markers and crayons and paint that I had when I was younger but, my clearest memory of making something I was proud of happened when I was 12 or 13 years old. Middle school was a very stressful time in my life and as a result I didn’t sleep much. There was one night where I somehow decided to grab the big book of Van Gogh paintings we had on our book shelf and I copied one of his self portraits with a pencil and a piece of paper. I spent hours on it until it was finished, finally going to bed around 3 am. I feel like I always knew who he was and knew of his art growing up but, I found great pleasure in recreating Van Gogh’s work. That was the jumping off point for me, I knew I wanted to continue to make images after that.
When did art become a pursuit? Art became a pursuit between high school and college. I became obsessed with dark room and digital photography in high school and I was given the opportunity to take photos and make album art for my friend’s band. Having an image I created go out into the world was a powerful feeling and there was nothing else I could imagine doing with my life other than making art.
Are you self-taught or formally educated in visual art? I received a formal education from Salem State University and graduated in 2012 with a BA. While I got a taste of all media during my time there, printmaking was my one true love and I spent all my free time in the print studio.
How did you first become involved with CAA? I was simply looking for any opportunity to show work and meet other artists and I somehow ended up on the homepage for the Cambridge Art Association. It seemed like a good community to get involved in!
What role do you think the artist plays in society? There are so many forms of art that are embedded in society: music, food, theater, movies, gallery shows, museum exhibitions, public art, graffiti, architecture, design… can you imagine if everything was created for pure function, in a homogenized, straightforward way? Art makes us aware of our surroundings and what it means to be human, and awareness is good.
What medium do you currently work in and how did you choose this medium? Watercolor is the primary medium I work in at the moment which I find funny because I was always afraid of it. I always perceived watercolor as something that was permanent once it hit the paper and very difficult to control. But a couple years ago, I traveled across the country on my bicycle and I brought with me a little sketchbook and some watercolors to play around with. When I returned home, all I wanted to do was make art but I was living with my parents and I had very little room to work so watercolor was the easiest thing to set up on the kitchen table between breakfast and dinner. I think if an artist wants to make art, they will find a way even if it’s with something unfamiliar.
What is your creative process? Where are you finding ideas for your art these days? Most of the time the first step in my creative process is to just play around in my sketchbook. I like using a brush pen to make quick little thumbnail sketches of landscapes, sometimes working out of my head, other times I work loosely from photographs I’ve taken or photos I see online. Other times I go right to the paper with paints and a brush and just start making marks. It’s all about creating a space to explore and get lost in.
How do you choose your subject matter? Is there a reoccurring theme that carries throughout your work? All of my recent art has stemmed from the same idea of a journey. Taking my bicycle across the country was not something I ever thought I’d do but, I was at a point in my life where I felt stuck and, through a lot of gradual little changes, I was ready to step off the path I was on and trust the universe to guide me to the next point in my life; and it did. The work I started to make as soon as I got home dealt with being in unfamiliar places and how the environment has its own presence, like it’s seeing you and smiling down on you. This same idea has developed a little further into a loose narrative involving a wandering man and a dog, sometimes together, sometimes off on their own. The story has become very ambiguous in terms of the spaces they navigate. It often seems they’re in the real world next to a lake, in a forest, hiking up a mountain but, sometimes it’s as if they’re in a dream or within their own mind on another level of consciousness. There’s a sense of spirituality in my images heightened by the titles that allude to a universal presence in nature and something beyond what we experience everyday.
In your opinion, what’s your best/favorite piece you’ve made? I’m really happy with a painting I called ‘The Same Old Moon in the Ever Changing River’. There’s a nice sense of light from the moon and the fire that brings the hills to life for me. The title came from the idea that you can’t stand in the same river twice because the water is always moving along, somewhat of a testament that everything is always changing (even us) but there’s some things that are constant, like the moon.
What is one of your artistic goals for 2018? I’d love to have a solo show in a gallery, even a small group show with a couple friends. That, or an artist residency somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
What’s your favorite place to see art? I love going to Provincetown to look at all the galleries that are filled with beautiful paintings of the unique landscape and the soft pink light that envelopes everything at sunrise and sunset. The history of artists living and working down there is inspiring as well; I recently saw the Helen Frankenthaler exhibit, ‘Abstract Climates’ at the PAAM and it blew my mind.
What living artists are you inspired by? I’m a big fan of Chris Johanson, Jules de Balincourt, Michelle Blade, Katherine Bradford, Nathaniel Russell, and David Hockney
Do you own any art by other artists? I do but I wish I owned/could afford more! My boyfriend and I recently purchased two paintings by Ann Parks McCray whose work is exhibited in Provincetown; she makes brightly colored abstract landscapes and seascapes. I have a handful of prints from other artists including Catherine Kaleel, Hallie Bateman, Grant Haffner and Joe Roberts.
Do you have any shows coming up? I’ll have some work displayed at a couple different places over the next few months. In September, my work will be hanging in Brew’d Awakening Coffeehaus in Lowell, MA and during October I’ll having a few pieces hanging in the upstairs lobby of the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport, MA!
See more from Dan!
Website: danbrenton.com
Facebook: facebook.com/danbrentonmakesart
Instagram: @danmakesart