"His oil paintings suggest
that the sun is always shining and that love is
always in the air, even if you are just looking at a
table with flowers on it."
— Pasatiempo, Santa Fe New Mexican, 2/13/04
The art of San Francisco artist, Daniel
Bayless, captures
the drama of the
light, those fleeting moments when the delicate hand
of nature caresses a
bouquet, or gently twirls a body of water, creating a
sparkling sea. And,
shafts of light rearrange the ambiance, inspiring a mood
for the moment.
In the tradition of the great impressionists of the 19th
century, Bayless
records the most subtle sensations of light, those ephemeral
particles
that engage the senses, calling to mind early mornings
when patios are
perfumed by delicate blooms, awake and dancing in the
sun. His harbor
scenes capture those quiet moments when the bay, capable
of rage and
mystery, is still and at peace. Sailboats rock gently
against their
moorings, tugging and moaning only on occasion, while,
foghorns, too tired
to yawn, sleep in the spray and mist. In moments such
as these, his bold
colors and vibrant lyrics explode with life.
Bayless observes the natural elements of a scene. Using
powerful brushwork
and luminosity, he arranges them within the frame of
his canvas in such a
manner that the viewer experiences the focused energy
and spontaneity
apparent in each scene. "I want to evoke the feeling
of what a scene means
to me when I look at it," Bayless says. "The
vitality of color, the energy
of the relationship of the viewer and the subject, whether
it’s a
vibrating, sunny landscape or a still controlled interior;
those are the
messages that are important to me."
Bayless was born in Borger, Texas, a town at the top
of that state, where
towering clouds, not skyscrapers, dominate the horizon
and color the
landscape. At a young age, he began to observe the fluid
nature of these
colors, always changing in the sunlight. As a result,
his parents promptly
enrolled him in childrens oil painting class at the age
of five. Bayless
won National Merit Scholarship awards each year during
his four year high
school career. In 1974, the young artist studied with
Russian painter,
Sergei Bongart. Impressed with his student’s talents,
Bongart offered
Bayless a scholarship.
Bayless’ paintings are included in both private
and corporate collections
in California, New York, Mexico, England, Hong Kong and
Japan. His
collectors include such luminaries as Elizabeth Taylor
and the late
Leonard Bernstein. His corporate collectors include:
The Disney
Corporation, Omni Hotels, The Breakers and MCrowd Dallas.
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