About & Contact Information
Location:
Outhouse Studios
is located in Salinas, the
home of John Steinbeck. The Salinas Valley has some of the most
beautiful views of anywhere and thus called the "pastures of
heaven". It is also considered to be the salad bowl of the
world.
It
has
some of the finest soil and climate
conditions of any growing region. Within 10 miles either direction is
ocean or mountains. The climate is temperate all year round
and
it is remarkably beautiful.
Name:
The
idea of Outhouse Studios, though intended to be a humorous
play on words, is also literally referring to the fact that the
creative
work is being produced out of the house in the studios therein. It is
plural because it includes both art and music
studios and intentionally leaves the possibility open for other artists
in the future. |
RollingFields |
|
Field 2 Mount
|
Process:
All works were created by using a mouse and an Appleworks painting
program. The artist has developed a unique palette of
gradient
colors and textures and although the technique is different than oil
painting or pastel, for example, it is a skill which must
continually be developed to be exciting and communicative.
Intent:
At
Outhouse Studios,
the treatment of the medium is to produce an image
or feeling that transcends mediums - pieces that on their own are able
to stand for something beautiful, feeling, or intriguing. The
computer
and printers are the medium, but the artistic communication
takes the forefront.
The
intention is
for the art to not be so much about capabilities, but rather about what
it is that requires communicating. The language of art has
probably not changed, but the tools and vocabulary to express have.
|
| Digital:
I believe that when people generally think of digital art, they think
of complicated 3-dimensional, futuristic, mathematic, geometric images
that could only be conceived on a computer; and if not, that they are
thinking of enhanced and altered digital photographs. It is a
new
arena and these are the most prevalent examples so that is natural and
understandable. The digital work on this site is created like a
painting, built up from a blank. |
View:
All of the art
displayed on this site is painted, drawn, created on the computer. The
view
through your monitor should be very close to the artist's
view.
The images were created in a Macintosh environment. The same
images seen in a Windows environment may be a little darker and a
little more magenta without even touching monitor
calibration.
Nevertheless, the view mimics the artist's original canvas.
Remarkably, even the prints capture the feeling of backlit illumination.
Image Quality:
Even though the
quality of the images displayed are quite good, it should be noted that
all images have been watermarked for proprietary reasons, which in many
cases creates graininess. They have also been
optimized to have smaller files for faster loading. Neither
of
these is
uncommon on the web, nor will it be a surprise to say that the prints
will have a clarity and quality surpassing what can be found on this
site. |
Valley Work |
Field of Hoes |
Taste
and Beauty:
Each of us develops his sense of taste in the course of his
lifetime. We eat foods we would have never dreamed of, listen
to
music which
would have been unfathomable, and view art to which at a different time
we would have been indifferent.
Can anything be considered beautiful in its own right? Is
anyone
immune to the beauty of a sunset, the beat that makes you tap your
feet, or the warmth of love? We all know it when we feel it.
It
seems that for
something to be in good taste, it must be enough like
what a person is familiar with and enough different that it sparks a
new connection and is found to be exciting. |
Community of Artists:
My hope
has
always been to develop and be part of a community of artists - a place
where creativity is encouraged, nurtured and critiqued in positive,
constructive ways.
In some ways, the world wide web makes it possible to create
communities never thought of before. We can, should we
choose,
pass things back and forth, alter them
- collaborate with people in completely remote places. And as
far
as we
have come, I believe that the possibilities for connecting with each
other are still beyond our comprehension. On the other hand,
our
ability to
connect with people, when we use it, is well beyond our technology.
|
River Run 1 |
Brief Bio: Born
in 1959 in
Indianapolis, IN; Dan Beck has been creating art as long as he can
remember. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College with a BA in
Philosophy. His formal art education includes - Oil Painting,
Drawing, Sculpture, Lithography, and Art History. In
addition, he
has studied perception as well as aesthetics. He has been
exposed
to art in museums and galleries in major locations across the country
and from friends and relatives who are professional artists.
Up
until fairly recently he worked full time in the organic produce
industry, yet continued to create and sell work during this
time.
With the development of the computer as a medium for painting and
aesthetic expression, and the remarkably positive response to the
finished work, he has made it possible to view and own this new work.
Music:
Dan started to learn how to read music and play on the piano before he
learned to read. He started studying classical guitar in
third
grade and still finger picks exclusively to this day. He
studied
trumpet during his grade school years as well. Although there
was
a gap of a few years playing no instruments; by his senior year in high
school, he was back playing guitar everyday and studying music
theory. He continued with two years of music theory in
college as
well as having private jazz instruction. The musical epiphany
occurred when he came to the realization that theory was a guide and
that any note could be played in just about any circumstance depending
upon what was played afterwards. Though it is from this place
the
music is created, it is not necessarily musically complex.
Surface
Appearance: I
have a built in resistance to the mixing of personal appearance with
one's art or the more prevalent mix of music and
physical appearance. So despite my principals, I am offering
these images of myself. The two photos below were shot the
same
day, kind of a before and after thing. I
guess I have
come to realize I enjoy the photos I see of other artists.
|
's.
Landscape
Art Gallery
