Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Artist Spotlight: Danny O'Driscoll

The spring is almost here, and for us at Pine Ridge Art it’s not only the melting snow and sunny afternoons that makes it great. The end of the winter months means it’s time for us to re-group and start thinking about planning for next year’s new product introductions. In other words, it’s time for us to get creative!

photo : http://www.charlestoncvb.com/
One of the ways that we get the ball rolling is by sending our art director out into the field to catch up with our fantastic artists and see what they’ve got in store for the coming year.

This year we decided to check out the 2011 Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in historic Charleston, SC. The show, which just celebrated its 29th year, is the largest wildlife art event in the United States. With tons of fantastic wildlife and nature artwork on display, it’s a great place to get inspired (check it out at http://www.sewe.com/).
While visiting the show, we were lucky enough to catch up with “Feathered Friends” artist Danny O'Driscoll who’s been an annual participant in the show since 1984.
Danny show's us his artwork at the Southeastern Wildlife Expo
It was great to chat face to face, and share ideas about the coming 2013 calendar season. It was especially nice to get a sneak peek at some of the great new work he had on display.  I love the seagull, entitled "Footprints".
Three of Danny's new acrylics: "Footprints", "Robins and Dogwood", and "Buddy"


Painting professionally for about 38 years, Danny actually began his art career in zoological illustration and graphic art.  Working for the Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina, and the Houston Zoo in Texas gave him the strong background and passion for creating accurate and anatomically correct subjects that makes his artwork so realistic. While Danny enjoys painting a large variety of wildlife, he is most famous for his vivid portrayal of birds including hawks, ducks, songbirds, and eagles.
Here's a sneak peek at Danny's 2012 Vertical Calendar
You might think that 38 years as a professional artist is a long time, but Danny’s love of art actually started a lot earlier – he’s actually been painting since he was ten. I’m pretty sure that I was still making “abstract” finger paintings, and play dough  "sculptures" as a ten year old, so I find these pretty impressive.
Danny's artwork at 10 years old

These days Danny enjoys spending time with his very artistic family. His wife, Mundina is an artist in her own right, and his daughter Colleen is a photographer. Apparently talent runs in the family!

Danny's artwork at 10 years old








For more information about Danny O’Driscoll and his work visit http://www.dannyodriscoll.com/. You can also purchase Pine Ridge Art products featuring Danny’s work at www.pineridgeart.com