ABOUT ME
Daniel Valentine
As a child, I learned about paint and color mixing from my father who was a house painter and faux finisher. I went to Italy at age 18 to learn Venetian plaster. I became obsessed with the lime plasters, waxes and the old processes and materials. I worked as a decorative artist and plasterer for the next 12 years, returning to Italy to train on 4 more occasions.
During this time I moved to the 30-A Coastal Corridor in Northwest Florida and I was absolutely seduced by the immense natural beauty of the coastal environment, and this new obsession led me to become a surfer and Scuba Diving Instructor. I was obsessed with the ocean, surfing on top of the waves, diving and exploring underneath, and spearfishing.
I relied on being in the ocean for my peace and happiness, which was an interesting mode of living, but ultimately a mistake. During this time I was terrified to paint fine art because I felt like an imposter with nothing real to say. I finally painted a series of paintings in 2008 but my fear kept me from painting again for 12 more years. During these last two years I overcame my 25 year battle with addiction and mental illness and finally got the clarity and confidence to paint freely.
I still love the ocean and that is primarily what I paint, although it is not the fragile source of my peace anymore. My peace now comes from from living in an honest way, with my fear under control and in actualizing, developing and pursuing the gifts I was born with. I don’t paint because it’s my dream to be a painter, I paint because I am a painter and I truly believe it’s what I’m supposed to be doing.