Dan McCaw put on a painting workshop and demonstration this past weekend. He has a fabulous career as an artist, teacher, and author. He spent most of the morning with a slide show and powerpoint presenting and commenting on his many years of work. It was really interesting.
He works closely with his two sons, who are also becoming successful artists. The interplay of ideas, and the physical support of having others to help build and transport the works, has clearly brought Dan a great deal of pride and joy.
For his demo in the afternoon, he did this "head" as he simply calls this new phase he is in. He has done a large number of them, working from his imagination. He emphasized that he is exploring his own choices in art now. He feels freed from the demands of gallery success and popularity. He is aware that these heads are not "light and pretty" like the lovely beach scenes he has done, that they are not to everyone's taste. He has finally given himself permission to not try to please everyone!
I love the pictures he has done of cafe scenes, with the lovely indoor light dramatizing a character or group of people in a seemingly leisure moment. His dark, brooding heads are not my preference. But despite that, I applaud Dan for finally following his own vision and imagination. It takes courage!
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