THRIVING in NATURE
Painting from life has enhanced Daniel J. Keys’ still lifes and landscapes
Daniel J. Keys has always been captivated by nature, and that interest has carried over into his still lifes and landscapes filled with colorful flowers reminiscent of the seasons. “Part of what I paint and when I choose to paint goes back to my childhood,” Keys says. “I’m not really interested in something that’s new all the time. I’m much more interested in exploring what I already know and what I’ve always loved.” When he was a child Keys had an adeptness for art, and at age 11 he began painting with a paint set he bought with birthday money. During his teens, the artist discovered the paintings of Richard Schmid and began to emulate his style. Since that time Keys has studied with Schmid and built a close friendship with him. As he grew as an artist, Keys developed
an artistic flair that makes each work unmistakably his own. The pieces are dynamic and encapsulate fleeting moments, which is especially prominent because of his desire to work from life. “Primarily I’m an advocate for painting from life,” he explains. “If it’s a representational painting—it’d be different [if it was] abstract or something more graphic or illustration—painting from life is a must because any time I’ve had to rely on a photo versus a little study I did from life, a quick study to become a larger work, the quick study is far more informative than a photograph. As much as technology [has advanced], it doesn’t compare to a human eye. Society is lied to every day—they’re told your camera phones are just as good [but] they’re not. They haven’t caught up to what the human eye can perceive and see. You’re limited if you only work from photos. I’m a real stickler for life observation.” This observation of life is a main component of Keys’ paintings, as he tries to stay true to the seasons and
what is naturally occurring. “It’s sort of similar to how a landscape or plein air painter would [work] because, just like a really good landscape painter, we rely so much on life and life experience, so for someone who paints flowers it’s the same thing,” Keys says. “You’re really paying attention to the seasons, and you have to time things. I don’t always get it right. One of the worst things—the big crisis in my day—is I schedule a trip and something is blooming at home and I’m going to miss it. You have to time things and work with the seasons.” In his exhibition VIVID, on view at The Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, through February 9, the majority of the pieces will be from the past summer, while a few others are from fall 2018. “Autumn Inside had to be painted last year to be ready for the show. In Clay there are pumpkins, so those had to be set up last fall. That’s why there are a lot of summer pieces,” Keys adds. “You are trying to work with the seasons and
make the most of each year.” One of the summer paintings in the show is Summer Flower Farm. “Obviously it has flowers in it—that’s what I’m known for—but I think of it as a landscape because it’s the outdoors. It has mountains and trees. It has everything in it and I’m really happy with that,” says Keys. He adds that he’s particularly proud of this work because all of his landscape study in life “has started to pay off.” His still life Summer Table is another notable piece, because Keys is moving beyond the traditional setup. “It’s obviously a traditional color palette, very traditional subject matter, but I tried to do a more contemporary composition,” he says. “People, particularly artists, they recognize that right away because the majority of the interest is well above the halfway mark. It has a very nontraditional composition, and I feel like that’s something of interest because still life has be done and this one is done new. My take on it is slightly bent toward a more modern design.”