Daniel Alan Gordon
Meditations on Beauty and the Human Spirit
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"Finding our Place in the Universe - First Light"
19” x 16” x 1.5”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
The genesis for this painting came during an early morning walk when I was humbled by the beauty of my surroundings. As I looked at the changing sky, the clouds over the water and the light coming through I felt empowered and inspired by the moment.
"An Epiphany in Organic Architecture"
23” x 29” x 1.5”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
This painting depicts the beautiful countryside of a Chilean landscape. The lupine flowers mirror an architectural design in my mind with their straight stems and tight clusters of small blossoms, all arranged on their stalks. This revelation of a natural design was unexpected, which makes this painting all the more precious to me.
"Aquamarine"
15.25” x 12.25” x 2”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
This painting took on a life of its own almost from the very beginning. It started with a desire on my part to mix a particular shade of blue with red blossoms and a few white ones. The first incarnation hit a lot of the marks, but I felt it had not captured the effect I was looking for. After more painting, the original blue grew into a deeper blue-green shade and the blossoms grew more white with violet shadows. I like the depth of color and the movement of this final work.
25.25” x 19.25” x 2”
Oil Paint on Aluminum Hardboard
This painting is guided by my love of Japanese art and design. I wanted it to feel multi-layered and reference the best of cherry blossom images I often see in Japanese art, while also evoking the garden where those blossoms might be growing.
"From New Jersey to Oklahoma"
19.25” x 15.25” x 2”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
This painting started out as an energetic, action-oriented depiction of a New Jersey landscape, and when a friend from Oklahoma saw the painting it really resonated with him. His reaction really stayed with me and I realized the painting represents his part of the country in the best possible way. Often art, even my own creations, can be best defined by the perception and experience of the viewer.
"Sky and Water"
28.25” x 18” x 2”
Oil Paint on Aluminum Hardboard
This painting represents many aesthetic and technical choices I have been developing in this collection. The layering I use for the background, as well as the flowers, give the water and sky effect I was shooting for. I employed some non-traditional painting tools to get the very nuanced, almost transparent layers. In the end, I feel this piece has a dream like quality, but is still nicely rooted in the natural world.
"Golden Valley"
37.25” x 23.25” x 2”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
Foothills and valleys of mountains have always captivated me whether here in New Jersey or where I grew up in Simsbury Ct. Doing this piece in yellow and browns was a bit of a departure for me, but I love the effect, and it speaks to my affinity to such beautiful spaces and places.
10.5” x 8.5"
Oil Paint on Hardboard
This landscape grew out of images of rolling hills and fields where grapes are grown for wine. The beauty of those fields allows you to suspend your day to day thoughts and take in the sun and the beauty of their unique landscape. I love that such places blend natural beauty with thoughts and ambitions of craft, whether it is making wine or painting the scene.
"The Courageous Tree"
25” x 19” x 1.5”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
I have always been captivated by wind-worn trees that seem to not only survive but somehow thrive in tough environments. The trees draw me in, aesthetically and spiritually. My background in woodworking has spurred me to look at these wondrous trees not only from the outside but, also from the inside as I appreciate their distinctive personality.
"Japanese Flowers"
24” x 19.5” x 1.25”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
This painting, like so many of my works, springs from both my head and heart. The painting’s structure comes from my head, as a design exercise. The flowers come right from my heart. I love the challenge to design compositions that leverage my years of building and designing furniture and also draw on my painting practice. One, i.e. furniture making, being very linear the other, i.e. painting, very organic.
31” x 20.5” x 1.5”
Oil Paint on Aluminum Board
I love Japanese art and its traditions surrounding the craft. This piece pays homage to Japanese design as seen by placing the cherry blossom branch in the foreground of the landscape. A theme I return to often. It took many thin layers of paint to achieve the overall effect, culminating with the tiffany blue background.
"Early Path to Inness"
22.5” x 18.5” x 1”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
With this composition, I am letting go of the typical constraints for painting landscapes. Multiple images converge to create a magical feeling of brilliant colors that allows the viewer to see beauty and light combined as one. More specifically, the borders and the blue lines reframe the central piece of the landscape. The overall effect reminds one of how you can open multiple screens on a computer and then they overlay one upon another. I realize this is more subtle than that, but that might be its charm.
"Blue Sunshine Daydream"
8.75” x 10.5” x 1.5”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
This title references lyrics from the Grateful Dead song “Sugar Magnolia.” Lyrics that remind me of a time in my life when I traveled cross country. My sister, Lisa, bought me a journal to chronicle the trip and wrote messages in the journal too— that lyric was in the journal. I just loved it then and still do. This painting resides in that place; the layers of flowers and the soft blues work both literally and in the abstract. A place of delicate balance where so many of my paintings land.
"Bronze Linen Deep Purple"
13.5” x 17.75” x 2”
Oil Paint on Linen
This particular painting took a bit of time. There are two floral motifs that are layered underneath the final painting you are viewing. I started with a traditional floral bouquet motif but kept painting additional layers leading me to this final version with its increased motion- a dance of violets and coppers that I think are striking.
"BOHO Textile"
8.5” x 10.75” x 1.5”
Oil Paint on Linen Mounted to Board
I just love this little painting for its BOHO chic vibe in addition to its depth beyond the fashion reference. It is at once a swatch of cool green fabric and also a completely abstract painting. I shoot for this balance often, but it can be challenging to hit. When you get it you just have to stop the painting process and let the piece live.
21.75” x 31.75” x 2”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
Warner in this case is a reference to an extremely fine house painter whom I worked with back in the ’90s. He took house painting to an artistic height that I had never witnessed before. He applied so many coats of paint to an ordinary wall with such care and craft that the wall radiated with a spectrum of color. This painting exemplifies that for me. The flowers are inspired by our family walks this Spring. Somehow, amid the pandemic, the flowers and plants were more radiant than ever.
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"Morris Window #1"
11” x 13” x 1.25”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
In these two paintings, I painted much of the floral images on a piece of glass. I then allowed the paint to slightly set and then transferred the images, via printmaking methods, onto the painting. I then combined that technique with other more traditional painting methods. I love this abstract piece with the pop of white flowers and the touch of cadmium orange.
"Morris Window #2"
11” x 13” x 1.25”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
In these two paintings, I painted much of the floral images on a piece of glass. I then allowed the paint to slightly set and then transferred the images, via printmaking methods, onto the painting. I then combined that technique with other more traditional painting methods. I love this abstract piece with the pop of white flowers and the touch of cadmium orange.
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31.5” x 41.5” x 2.5”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
This painting is an overt homage to the design periods of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts. The whiplash curves of the flower stems are a key element from the Nouveau period. I am using that shape here to create movement. The background colors are many layers giving the richness of texture I wanted to frame each of the brighter flowers. My intent here is for the background, coupled with the tight curves of the stems and the bright and deep colors of the flowers, to come together like a favorite song or, dare I say, a visual symphony.
"High Horizon on the Gold Coast"
10.75” x 8.5” x 1.5”
Oil Paint on Linen Mounted to Hardboard
This painting’s energy comes from the subtle purples and greens that make up the sky. I let the horizon line stay unusually high on the composition and let the long foreground just evolve. It has a charm about it that grows with each viewing.
"Blackfish Creek"
13.5” x 11” x 1”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
Recently, Lavinia and I spent several days in a 1950’s rustic cabin in Wellfleet, Mass. The cabin and the main house where the owners live was previously owned by a cape cod artist, an oil painter. From the moment we arrived at this cabin I felt incredibly at home and inspired to paint. The cabin sits at the edge of the Wellfleet marshes. The light throughout the day is awesome; this painting grew out of the mornings and wonderful afternoons we spent there.
"Honeymoon Marsh"
12.25” x 7.25” x 1.25”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
As with Blackfish Creek, recently Lavinia and I stayed in a small cabin in Wellfleet, Mass. A truly inspiring spot, especially for painters. The cabin’s views of the Cape Cod marshes just captivated me all day. It did feel like a honeymoon of sorts for us and it was just a joy to paint there.
"O's Petals"
8.5” x 10.75” x 1.5”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
This painting is named for my sister-in-law Olivia. It is many layers of painted flowers culminating with bright petals you see on the outer most layer. Olivia loved this painting even before it was done and she saw the true spirit of the piece even midway through the painting process, thereby the name. I love to mix the abstract with the representational in many of my pieces and this piece exemplifies this concept.
"Rock Harbor"
20.25” x 17.25” x 2”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
Since my children were young we have ventured up to Cape Cod most every summer. I also traveled there with my parents and sister when I was a child. Rock Harbor sits between Eastham and Orleans at the outer Cape. It has fishing boats, a marina, and really cool views of the bay. At dusk, the tall grasses frame the sand and sunsets over the bay. The place is magical.
"Above the Clouds"
37.75” x 24.25” x 2”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
This year I was fortunate enough to be asked to re-interpret a Fredrick Edwin Church painting, titled, “Above the Clouds.” My rendition of his painting borrowed from his composition, but the paint style was my own. I painted this piece during that same period. I took the lead for the overall structure of the piece from Church, but I wanted the painting to represent what the energy and light that live underneath such a painting might look like. Said another way, the true spirit of the painting.
"Bridge Back to Roaring Brook"
8.5” x 10.75” x 1.5”
Oil Paint on Linen on Hardboard
When I was growing up in Simsbury Ct. my friends and I would ride our bikes one town over to Canton, Ct. We had to ride up one edge of a small mountain to get to the Roaring Brook Nature Center. As the name implies, the center sits by beautiful brooks. Whenever I paint such a scene it is there that my mind goes. It was such a refuge for us.
"Slow Sunrise in South Jersey"
13.5” x 9.75” x 1”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
My obsession with the sky, clouds and light is obvious by now. This painting represent the morning light you see at the shore as the sun rises. I have had the opportunity to set my easel and start a painting as the sun is rising over the Atlantic ocean and continue to work that painting into the hours that follow.
"A River Runs Through"
13” x 17” x 1.25”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
Very close friends of mine traveled to Peru in the last few years. I was working on creating some landscapes that reflect the incredible countryside of Chile and Peru. My friend sent me some photos of his trip. They provided a great deal of inspiration and this painting grew out that session. The natural beauty and variety of landscapes in those countries are just awe-inspiring.
"A Sunset and a Moonrise at Cape Cod"
17.75” x 14.75” x 1.5”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
My family and I are loyal sunset chasers. I paint a lot of sunsets and they do evolve each time. In this one, the moon very organically fit into the composition. I did not intend to include it, but, as is often the case, the painting tells you how to proceed. I really love the addition of the moon. More paintings with the sun and moon appear together are sure to come
"Sunset at First Encounter Beach, Cape Cod"
18.75” x 16” x 1.5”
Oil Paint on Hardboard
The Cape Cod bay provides incredible light shows, aka sunsets, on many a summer night. In the past couple of years the pronounced and brilliant orange has been a particular feature. On some evenings we drive to multiple spots along the bay to get the full effect of some those intense colors. This painting grows directly out of that experience.
