Biography - W.F. Daniel

 Bill's introduction to the natural world began as a toddler on family car-camping trips in the Sierras. Later he continued his outdoor adventures as a whitewater canoeist and kayaker, rock climber, and backpacker.  He began painting, first in pastels and then in oils, in the early 1990's as a way to relieve the stress of a career in electrical engineering. Over the years, a fascination with artistic pursuits began to overshadow his engineering work. In 2003 he made the decision to devote his full energy to his passion for painting landscapes in beautiful Colorado and elsewhere.

Plein air painting and studio work are both exciting and fulfilling for him. He says, "I find that my work in the field and in the studio complement each other. The difficulties of plein air painting - rapidly changing light, the challenges of weather, and the inconvenience of carrying a studio on my back - force me to paint loosely and rapidly while staying true to the feeling of the moment. When I return to my studio, the challenge becomes one of maintaining that immediacy and freshness, while developing a small color sketch into a larger work. In the comfort of my studio and without the time pressure of changing light, I can experiment with materials and techniques. Those studio adventures, in turn, inform my field work."

He has studied with locally and nationally known artists including Scott Christensen, William Scott Jennings, Doug Dawson, Kevin Weckbach, John Budicin, and Molly Davis. His inspiration is drawn from the work of living artists including Cyrus Afsary, Katheryn Stats, Matt Smith and Richard Schmid, as well as masters of the past such as James Reynolds, Nicolai Fechin, Anders Zorn, Carl Rungius, and Edgar Payne.