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Inspired by the shapes of Yosemite Valley’s Half Dome and other geological formations, Menlo Park artist Daniel Meehan is showcasing his latest collection of mixed media paintings at Gallery 9 in Los Altos. The show runs from Sept. 2 to 28.
This is Meehan’s first solo exhibit at the co-op gallery. It’s called “Half Dome and Elsewhere.”
Meehan, a New York City native, came to the Bay Area in 1972 for a change in pace. He then worked for software companies — he first gained experience working on computers during his youth as a messenger boy in Manhattan — until his retirement in 2013. Throughout his time on the Peninsula, he’s continued to pursue a lifelong love of drawing and painting.
“Geometric and historic designs, forms from nature, and flames are shapes that I appreciate and respect,” he says on the Gallery 9 website. “I like to work with them, explore them, and experiment with combinations of these shapes and colors.”
This latest collection is a long time coming. Meehan started a drawing of Half Dome in 2017 that “turned out really nice.” He came back to the work a couple of years ago, ultimately leading to the 20-piece collection.
Meehan, who won the “Best of Show” award at the Pacific Art League‘s 2023 Works on Paper exhibit in Palo Alto, will be selling his paintings at Gallery 9 when the show opens.
The gallery will host an opening reception for the collection on Friday, Sept. 5, from 5-8 p.m. at 143 Main St.
The following interview has been condensed for clarity and space.
Embarcadero Media: What inspired the collection? Have you visited Yosemite National Park often? Have you climbed Half Dome?
Daniel Meehan: Though I have not climbed it, I’ve been around its base many times. … I have had friends that have climbed the face on the opposite side, and they gave me a lot of information about the dome and its characteristics. And I spent many years backpacking in the backcountry. The Yosemite backcountry is really beautiful.
Embarcadero Media: Were there other places that influenced the collection?
Meehan: There’s Mount Hoffman, which is also in Yosemite. … I’ve got some agave … and succulent paintings in the show too, from different areas of the West.
Embarcadero Media: How does living on the Peninsula influence your work?
Meehan: Living on the Peninsula … is like living in a beautiful park. You know, the Mediterranean climate gives us those nice, mild winters and warm, dry summers. And I live near Flood Park in Menlo Park (where he has lived for 38 years), and I spend a lot of time walking out there, and it’s beautiful. It’s 21 or so acres of old oaks and many bay trees and open savannah areas.
Embarcadero Media: When did you become interested in painting and drawing? How has your work evolved?
Meehan: Since I was a child I’ve been drawing. When I was really small, like 3 or 4 years old, I became very, very interested in cartoons. I copied them, and I had cousins that knew how to draw, and they gave me some pointers. It’s been the thing that’s been going on all my life, just sort of on and off at different times. For the last 15 years or so, I’ve really dedicated a lot of time and energy into it.
I consider myself to be a visual learner. I see things, images, photographs, or even other artworks in a variety of sources, and I get ideas from those. Sometimes they pan out and sometimes they don’t. I don’t really have a particular style of art. … A lot of (my) time is spent on mandalas or mandala-type paintings. Just recently, I started painting landscapes.
Embarcadero Media: Do you have a favorite work in the latest collection? What challenges did you face when creating it?
Meehan: I kind of liked them all.
The “Half Dome #5” is a pretty interesting work. I did a painting maybe three or four years ago, called “Starry Night,” based on Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” In that painting, I was able to use a lot of designs and techniques for the stars in the sky in the evening, and it came out really well. And then I also used that same idea of painting the sky and the stars at night over Half Dome. I can’t say that it’s my favorite, but it took a lot of work and there were a lot of challenges in it too.
For traditional watercolor, you always paint light to dark … because watercolor is mostly transparent, and putting light transparent colors on top of a dark color does not show the colors attributes or beauty. It just gets lost in the dark color. It is different with oil or acrylic, where the colors on the top layers can be made non-transparent or opaque, or transparent. With oils you can paint light to dark, or dark to light.
For “Half Dome #5,” I laid in a deep dark blue for the sky first. I thought I had a way to put down the lighter colors, but it did not work out the way I wanted. I thought a white watercolor ground could be used, but it just did not look right. So I worked with other mediums (pen and ink, gouache, colored pencil and acrylic) to achieve the right colors, right on top of the dark sky watercolor. I was surprised and pleased with the results.
Embarcadero Media: What advice do you have for aspiring artists?
Meehan: They should look at art that really speaks to them and moves them. They should study that art and learn from it and try to work with the ideas expressed in them. Talking to and reading about other artists, (asking): “What inspires them? How do they make their art? What’s important to them?”
For people to copy other artists’ work and learn from their works, it’s just totally normal.
Also, I would recommend that folks learn how to draw, learn the basics of perspective and how to create depth and textures before trying to paint.
Embarcadero Media: Did you have some training in drawing and painting?
Meehan: I learned commercial art in high school, so I had two years of commercial art there. I also went to the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and studied photography and art for two years.
Embarcadero Media: And what is commercial art?
Meehan: Commercial art at that time was making advertisements for publications or posters or product promotions. You learn a lot of techniques that way. They covered it all from airbrush to watercolor, pen and ink.
Embarcadero Media: Where do you work?
Meehan: I have a room converted into a work studio in my home. Fortunately, the size of my works allows me to do most of it on a normal desk. And I have adjusted the lights to help with working in a room. The largest pieces I work on are 30 x 22 inches, which is considered a full sheet of watercolor paper. And I can manage that size.
“Half Dome and Elsewhere,” Gallery 9, 143 Main St., Los Altos, Sept. 2-28, Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. gallery9losaltos.art.
