David Dalzell – The Wandering Artist
David is a visual artist, with a varied background in art, science, and graphic design. Nature and landscape greatly inspire him, although his subject matter is eclectic, a resonance with this artist’s wandering spirit. There is contradiction in David’s work, which can in one moment be controlled, honed and detailed with the application of a series of fine lines, and then in another free and spontaneous with swift movement of a camera, or sweeping stroke of acrylic paint.
In this phase of his artistic career, David loves to work in a more focused way to capture detail with his pen and ink work, loving the true development of drawing skill and execution. “This is where I really see a development of my craft today”, David says. And indeed the new nature-inspired work is heavily influenced by David’s graphic design eye.
A member of the Society of Scottish artists, and based in Edinburgh for 20 years, David has recently started travelling internationally, working as an artist and graphic designer to gain new experiences and widen his influences. This is impacting greatly on his creative projects and influencing his style and subject material.
Volunteering his expertise has enabled him to explore widely different projects, from preparing Buddhist temple statues to up-cycling discarded materials, and so whilst helping others, David has had the chance to develop his art.
“New materials offer themselves all the time” David says, “but there is something already tangibly perfect about wood and paper, and being an environmental biologist, I really prefer natural products”. The exploration of wood as his canvas for pen and ink work has helped David capture the wonderful detailed natural scenes in a whole new medium, and to use the new skills developed over the last year.
David has an overriding passion that greatly influences not only his artwork, but also his life: the love of learning and new experiences. David will be resident in Australia and New Zealand from October 2017 to April 2018 to develop a new body of work, inspired by his Antipodean adventures and the natural and rural landscapes. David also intends to build networks for future workshops; helping other people develop their own artistic skills and styles.
David has exhibited and sold work in both the UK and internationally, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, New York, Lyon, New Zealand and Australia.
Follow David’s wandering path at the following online locations:
Web portfolio: www.daviddalzell.co.uk
The Wandering Artist’s blog: www.david-dalzell.blogspot.co.uk
Society of Scottish Artists: www.s-s-a.org/member/?u=daviddalzell
David is open to taking commissions. Please email the artist at info@daviddalzell.co.uk