Why?

Of all the questions I have been asked over the years, this one in particular is the most difficult to answer.

If I were to answer the question only from an artistic viewpoint, it’s quite easy to explain why I “Dew” it.  From a philosophical standpoint, it’s much harder to explain the “why’s”, so, I’ll start with the artistic answer.

My one true joy in art is pen & ink drawing.  I not only love the look, but the challenge thrills me to no end.  There’s only one problem and that is that you only get “one”!  I have also worked extensively in watercolors, pastels and sculptures, but once again, you get only “one” for all your effort.  It is also frustrating when your Mom likes to swipe her favorites and claim them as hers when you only have one copy!  So, I fell in love with the whole relief print process.

Doing woodcuts and lino blocks allows me to satisfy my desire to think in stark black and white (or specific color fields), and the challenge of very few mistakes allowed.

Now for the “philosophical” reason.  First and foremost, I am a Christian.  I am not a weirdo, freak, bible-thumpin, right wing fanatic or hate monger.  I am a family man with a wonderful wife (one and only), two beautiful angelic daughters and a dog.

Many years ago (back in college) I gave my life to Christ and everything changed.  People who were my personal friends ran away from me and many of my contemporary artistic friends acted as if I had contracted leprosy.  My new Christian friends were of no help, they were extremely nice but they didn’t know a thing about art.

So, what to draw?  If my artwork had any “religious” connotations, my fellow students and teachers would, and did, rip me to shreds! If my artwork didn’t have any “religious” connotations, my new friends didn’t understand it or even why I would do it.

So I stopped creating.  For 20 + years.

Then one day, I woke up and decided that God didn’t put me on this wonderful earth and give me this precious talent for me to hide it “under a bushel basket”.  I decided to do the type of art that moved my spirit.

I sincerely hope that, in the very least, my artistic friends can appreciate the composition, technique, style, etc..., if not the message.  And I hope that my Christian friends can appreciate my attempt to bridge the gap between what is “acceptable” Christian art and something a little more oblique.

I hope that you like my work (and even purchase a print or two!), but even more importantly, I hope you “understand” my prints.  I try to create on two levels:  the artistic and the philosophic.  Look at the print, then read the corresponding verse.  See if it works for you.

Enjoy and thank you.

Daniel L. Dew