Friday, April 26, 2024
David Calton studied art at Florida State University and did his graduate work at the University of Georgia. After artist residencies in both Michigan and Alabama, he became a working artist and a college professor. He now resides in Granbury, where he creates western and nature-themed art.
For years, local artist David Calton has used mediums of sculpting, drawing, and painting to illustrate the “magic” of his subjects. He is often known to create animal portraits, like this one of the two bloodhounds.
For as long as he can remember, David Calton has always been an artist — using sculpting, drawing, or painting as a creative medium.
“Through my paintings and sculptures, I try to illustrate the magic, energy, and spirit of every subject that I create,” he explained.
Now, as a special gift to Hood County residents, Calton will be revealing his illustration “magic” by performing a live art drawing demonstration during D’Vine Wine’s free Gallery Night from 5-8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25.
“I'm gonna do a drawing demo on a couple of different things and show how I do it,” Calton said. “Because it's one thing to see a picture or a painting. It's like, ‘Wow, I wonder how he did that,’ so I'm gonna kind of show them the preliminary process I go through in getting to that.”
Calton studied art at Florida State University and did his graduate work at the University of Georgia. After artist residencies in both Michigan and Alabama, he became a working artist and a college professor.
He now resides in Granbury, where he creates Western and nature-themed art.
“I do a lot of nature stuff, and that's evolved over time,” Calton said. "I do pet portraits, but I also do wildlife animals and people. I travel a lot, so I see a lot of different things, and I think it's connecting with what we know and love, and the beauty we get out of nature and what it brings to us. A lot of my subject matter I do because I love, but also because of how people relate to it and the excitement they get out of it.”
He said his favorite part about art is “the expression on people’s faces” when he paints pet portraits for his clients — especially when that pet is no longer with them.
“It's an everlasting thing,” Calton said. “It's something they can keep with them, and I think a lot of the feedback that artists get is truly why we do the work. You really don't know if you've done good art until you've seen somebody see your art and express how they feel about it. It doesn't matter whether they get it or not; it's just interpretations, but when you make that connection with them, that's really the joy of doing art.”
Calton said he hopes the live art demo will encourage other potential artists to pick up their paintbrush or pencil and try to create their own piece of artwork.
“People come up to me all of the time — especially my friends — and they’ll say, ‘I’ve got talents, but I can never draw,’” he said. “But I used to tell this to my students: ‘Everybody can draw. Give me 10 minutes and I can get you to draw, but the hardest part is putting the pencil to the paper.’"
D’Vine Wine’s Gallery Night will also feature a live performance by musician Michelle Winters.
“She’s performing, so I thought I should perform too,” Calton said, regarding his live art demo.
His artwork will also be showcased at the Langdon Center Art Gallery from March 17-25.
“It’s going to be a bigger show — more than I can show at D’Vine Wine,” he explained. “It’s a huge house. I don’t know if I can fill it all, but I’m going to at least try to fill half of it. To get a show together, you have to have 15 to 20 pieces of really solid work, so I’ll have bigger pieces done by then. I’m kind of pushing myself to do bigger things. I haven’t done a show in a while, so to have a show this big, I’m really excited.”
For more information about D’Vine Wine’s Gallery Night, go online online to visitgranbury.com.
