Water, Light and Land
Currently residing in Switzerland, art has always been an integral part of this talented artist’s life.
Daniel was born in 1962 in Sydney, NSW. After staying a few years in Cronulla in Sydney’s south, his family moved to out to Deniliquin in the Riverina region of NSW. It was here that he spent his early childhood being allowed to roam freely and explore the Edwards River and surrounding bushland. Daniel always drew whenever he could when he was a child and if there wasn’t any paper to be found then it was common to find him drawing with a stick in the sand.
From Deniliquin his family moved to Forster in NSW where he developed his love of the ocean and took up surfing, fishing and beachcombing. “I loved the beach no matter what the weather was doing,” remembers Daniel. “I enjoyed the beach on stormy windblown days as much as clear sunlit weather, the beach was my escape from any pressures of life and I would go there whenever I could. It was a wonderful place to grow up and I feel very lucky to have been there.”
Daniel later moved to Sydney to find work and took an apprenticeship in sign writing and started helping out in his father’s auto body repair shop and went on to learn spray painting at Canberra TAFE.
“I think that the combination of colour matching and brushwork that comes from spray painting and sign writing led me to an easier transition into the visual arts,” Daniel says. “I started to paint landscapes with oil
paints and found that extremely satisfying.”
During this time in 2001-2003 Daniel was working on a fine arts diploma at Kogarah TAFE and also became a father with the birth of his first daughter, Ella.
After a couple of years of practice, Daniel now had a decent body of work and put in an application for an exhibition with the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery in Gymea in 2001.
It was accepted and proved to be a huge success. Daniel had another Solo exhibition there in 2005 and was also included in many group shows at the same venue. He became a master class tutor at Hazelhurst and made a lot of friends and enjoyed many full classes. During this time Daniel also ran his own gallery in the Stockland shopping centre in Engadine.
In 2007 he travelled to Broome in Western Australia and was absolutely stunned by the incredible colours. The deep red and orange rock combined with brilliant blue and turquoise water was so inspiring, along with Broome’s laid back people and lifestyle, that the experience left an indelible mark on Daniel’s artwork.
Soon after his visit he gained representation by Broome’s Monsoon Gallery, which is situated right next door to Matzo’s Brewery.
In his search for the ultimate subject matter, Daniel and his family travelled to Exmouth then drove along the coastline all the way back to Perth. “We stopped into almost every beach along the way and stayed for a while at Coral Bay to experience the magnificent Ningaloo reef. I took along my Nikon camera and took many photos. I now have literally hundreds of great photos of the pristine West Australian coastline.
“After working with the Monsoon Gallery I received a call from the owner of Yallingup Galleries, south of Perth, and was included with a group of six other artists to provide paintings for a large luxury yacht that was being built in Freemantle. I am lucky enough to be represented by the wonderful people at Yallingup Galleries and have travelled to Rottnest Island and the Margaret River region.”
Daniel’s base was still in St Ives in Sydney though, and he was intimately connected with the Northern Beaches and the Hawkesbury River.
In November 2012 Daniel and his family moved to Basel in Switzerland, and he enjoys travelling around Europe. “For me, the best thing about living in Switzerland is the close proximity of hundreds of amazing art museums and experiencing Europe’s different cultures.”
ACHIEVEMENTS 2001 Solo Exhibition – Scenes of the Royal National Park: Hazelhurst Gallery
2004 Group Show – A Human Response: Hazelhurst Gallery
2006 Solo Exhibition – Sandstone and Sea: Hazelhurst Gallery
2010 5 Aspects Group Show Monsoon Gallery SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 2000 Southern Exposure I: Hazelhurst Regional Gallery
2001 Southern Exposure II: Hazelhurst Regional Gallery Thirroul Arts Festival 2002 Thirroul Arts Festival 2003 Hunters Hill Annual Exhibition 2003 2003 Southern Exposure III: Hazelhurst Regional Gallery
2004 Southern Exposure IIII: Hazelhurst Regional Gallery Thirroul Arts Festival 2005 2005 Art on Paper Award: Hazelhurst Regional Gallery
2009 Hazelhurst Masterclass Tutors’ Exhibition 2011 Tree Of Life Exhibition 2011 Cricket Art Prize AWARDS People’s Choice Thirroul Arts Festival 2002
Packers’ Prize Kogarah institute of TAFE Annual Exhibition 2002
Handlers’ Prize Thirroul Arts Festival 2003
Best Painting Still Life Category Oyster Bay Art Prize 2008
Major Prize winner Oyster Bay Art Prize 2009
People’s Choice Cricket Art Prize
2011 FEATURE ARTIST 2004 Oatley Uniting Church Annual Art Show
2007 Oyster Bay Annual Art Show
Portrait commissions of Past Presidents: RSL Clubs of NSW
GALLERY REPRESENTATION Yallingup Galleries Yallingup, WA
More of Daniel’s work can be seen at www.danielhutchings.com ■