Dane Klingaman
A Brush with Greatness
Artist Dane Klingaman has every reason to smile these days. His vibrant works were selected in two Charleston juried art shows, he has sold his first few pieces this year and he plays shortstop for the University of Charleston. Not bad for a 20-year old!
Dane says it's easy to transition from the art studio to the baseball field. On the field and off, he remains creative-minded-a concept he says certain teammates "just don't get." For Dane it's simple: everyone's got their own creativity.
Innovative paintings, collages and digital prints are the fruits of Dane's imaginative energy. Inspiration comes from his attitude towards the world. "Just a little thing, like a small letter or someone's face will mean a lot more to me than someone else," he says.
He's lived in San Francisco, Chicago and later Minneapolis, where he graduated from high school. Dane grew up with creativity: his dad is a musician, his mother works in printing and his sister is a professional actress. Despite living in several large cities, he feels at home in West Virginia. "I came down here and just felt like I could live here-like I'd been here before."
He currently prefers using digital prints as his canvas, uploading them onto his computer and drawing on top of them with a Wacom Tablet. But he says paintings are more interesting and calming to him.
Each of Dane's paintings is likely to have another beneath it. The technique he uses, called "excavating," was coined by his teacher Mark Moore. The process involves using easily removable layers so that they may be taken off to reveal some paint or text beneath them. He says it's a simple method that can really impact a piece.
"Once I get to a point where I feel I have spaces on the canvas I don't want to lose, I know it's close to being finished. I wish I could always have someone there to take the work away from me at that point so I don't go back and rework them. I could easily have finished 20 paintings this year yet only have two canvases to show for it."
Only two paintings-and a bit of fame and fortune and baseball. Despite his success in sports and art, he remains a carefree guy on his own path. "I wanted to be an art major because it gives me the openness to do whatever-I don't really have any plans set."
