Daniel Bernunzio

About Daniel Bernunzio

Hello - I’m Dan.  I’ve been making art in Seattle since 1994. Around 2010, I created a particular piece of art on a scrap piece of wood that had a wood grain pattern that looked like a mountain range.  As I kept exploring this direction in my art through multiple pieces, I had a pop-up exhibition or two, and discovered that people really like them, which inspired me to make many more.  To date I have numbered 130 STAINTINGS.

MORE FROM DAN ABOUT HIS ART AND PROCESS

Working along several distinct lines of visual art, I often feel like there are several artists inside me.  In all my work, my interest in up-cycling discardable materials is a through line.  I gather wood, house paint, and materials that are slated for the landfill and transform it into artwork.  The concept of going to the art supply store to buy fresh canvas never crosses my mind. On occassion, I will buy a new piece of lumber or other material based on its unique characteristics for the purpose of making a specific art work.

My workflow is compartmentalized into separate bodies of work at this time.

I have been inspired by the positive feedback about the body of work I call Staintings, so I have been mostly focused on those for about 10 years.  I have made and numbered over 130 Staintings and sold dozens of individual pieces from pop-up exhibitions and juried shows since 2017.

The sublime beauty of the Seattle setting is a continual inspiration.   I'm also inspired by the salvaged materials I gathered during my work as a house painter and in the art services industry. Staintings began as an example of pareidolia. I saw the Olympic Mountain skyline in the wood grain pattern on a scrap piece of plywood.   Once engaged in my mind, this 'seeing of landscapes’ in wood grain patterns became a habit.   

I enhance the natural grain patterns by dyeing and other painting techniques to create the sunset landscape imagery.  On most, I have painted a moon and some stars, representing my interest in astronomy and cosmology. In the Pacific Northwest, tree silhouettes have compositional framing and true-black characteristics when looking toward the western horizon just after sunset.  When the inspiration strikes, I include this element of tree studies on a piece. Each Stainting is finished with a custom handmade hardwood frame, built from off-cuts that were meant for the dumpster.

In the case of Staintings, after I made about a dozen, I recognized a universal serenity in the finished products.  For me the calmness comes partly, and darkly (due to my social anxiety) from the absence of humanity in the imagery.  Feedback from viewers has informed me that the lonely landscape I see doesn’t come through, so I operate under the assumption that sunset colors, the twilight moment, undulating wood grain patterns, and quality craftsmanship are what evoke the peace and tranquility.   Although the wood grain pattern in most cases describes an abstracted landscape scene, I’ve listened on more than one occasion as people claim that they recognize 'that place’ as if they’ve been there!  The feedback I receive from strangers leads me to believe that Staintings have a tranquil calming effect on many people, and that seems to be my way of putting something positive into our culture.

A notable aspect of my distinct workflow as an artist is that I create art I want to look at.  I hang my own art on my walls, and it inspires me to keep creating.  It seems to be an endless feedback loop. I’m always motivated to keep producing.  I’m never not inspired.  

That statement may seem self-involved, but the following gives some personal clarification—

I have identified as an artist since I was a very young child.  I wasn’t gifted, but I was motivated, and knew I saw things differently than my peers. I have had struggles with my mental health all my life, trying many different medications and therapies unsuccessfully.  At age 52, I was diagnosed with autism.  As I learned more about what it means to be autistic, it became clear that this feedback loop of motivated self inspiration is a manifestation of my neuro-divergence.  It’s how I see and process my experience of being alive and self-reflexive.  I find my flow state and joy when I’m making art.  

The fact that many people seem to enjoy some of what I do is always a pleasant surprise.  I will be creating art because I can’t not, but I highly value the shared human experience of artist/recipient.  Through in-person feedback and discussions about these works of art, I became aware that they are inspirational.  Staintings encourage that spark of creativity that people can apply in their own work, their own life... their own way of seeing with fresh perspsective in the world we all share.