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July Issue 2004
Piazza Gallery in Mt. Pleasant, SC, Features Works by Dana Coleman
Original works in acrylic by Dana Coleman of
Charleston, SC, will be presented at the Piazza Gallery Art &
Framing in Mt. Pleasant, SC, from July 9 - 31, 2004.
As the youngest of five children, Coleman was always competing
for attention. He entertained his friends and family by drawing
their portraits. Art just seemed to be a natural career path for
him. Coleman received his Associate's Degree in Commercial Graphics/Graphic
Design from Trident Technical College and then attended the University
of South Carolina majoring in Civil Engineering. But his love
of drawing, designing and painting drew him back to the fine arts.
Today, Coleman not only enjoys doing graphic designs and creating
websites, but he has continued working in acrylics and producing
some of the most beautiful depictions of the lowcountry. "I
love the deep rich colors of the area. I love the way the light
and shadow play on the beautiful sunsets, marshes and buildings.
These are the things I love to paint," says Coleman. "I
am fascinated with the rich architecture in this beautiful, historic
city."
"This is a great opportunity to show my original artwork
in Mount Pleasant. I'm very excited," says Coleman. "The
most difficult subject I have painted has to be capturing the
true essence of the Cooper River Bridges. The flowing structure
along with the soothing sunset was difficult to execute because
I have never viewed the sunset while looking at the bridges. I
work from real life mainly for sketches and impressionistic paintings.
However, I work from several photos to capture the fine details
in the larger, more time-consuming paintings. The more detailed
paintings would be harder to paint because of the changing light
and shadows.
"For the more impressionistic paintings I work from real
life because it takes much less time and has far less detail,"
says Coleman. "I prefer painting in the impressionistic style
because it allows more freedom. It doesn't have to look like a
photograph, and is very fun to paint. I love Michelangelo for
his realism and Edward Degas for Impressionism at its finest."
Coleman has won several awards and received lots of recognition for his artwork. One of his most prestigious awards is his First place finish in the North Charleston Arts Festival for his acrylic painting Catfish Row. He has won several Honorable Mentions as well, such as Honorable Merit for his jazz rendition A Moment of Silence.
Coleman is married and has three children under the age of 13. Says Coleman, "Raising children teaches you patience. You can always use patience when painting. God and my family are my first priority, and my inspiration. My children are Iree, who is 13, Raheen who is 12 and Dana Jr. who is 5. Raheen is the artistic one and loves to assist me with my paintings." "My lovely wife Hope is a full time mom, full time minister at a local church and full time student at Charleston Southern University majoring in Sociology and Religion. She really has her hands full! It is never dull around our household."
Coleman has an online art gallery at (www.danacoleman.net).
For more info chek our SC Commercial Gallery
listings, call the gallery at 843/971-5005 or at (www.pizzagallery.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.