“Cosmic Love” by Daniel Landry
“Purely by accident out of
boredom. I’m not even really sure.
I had a pen and a piece of paper
and I saw a really cool picture in
the National Geographic. It was a
raven, so it was black and white
and I decided to experiment with
the ink, dots and lines and circles
and then I settled on the circles
and started creating just out of
nowhere.”
How did it make you feel when
you saw the finished piece?
feelings come out. It happened
a lot quicker than it would have
when normally creating these
pieces. The process was easier.
I had thought about them for
years, but never really thought it
would be easy, until one day I just
basically sat on the canvas and
thought that was pretty funny.
It kind of works”. “The money
paid for some modern art from
elite art schools, I just didn’t get
it, so being whimsical, I got a
washcloth, put a bunch of paint
on it, wiped it on my backside
and sat on the canvas. I entitled
it how it was and how I felt. ‘Kiss
my Ass!’. It was a true response
to how I felt”. “For the torso
piece, ‘Seriously, Let me Out,’
this is a print of my upper body. I
did the chest first, then the face.
Everything is the actual body
part. Then I put it together – as
if I’m pressing against a shower
window”.
Do you ever teach other inmates?
“I have had people ask me
questions and if I know I will tell
them, but I still consider myself
a beginner and I don’t think
I’m that good, or that I deserve
to teach people. I think people
need to find out for themselves. I
discovered it on my own”.
“Well even to this day most of the
time I can’t stand it when I look
at a finished piece, but then it all
came together in the end, and I
thought - maybe I can draw a bit,
so I pursued it after that.”
Can art help cope with feelings of
depression?
“It can help when I know it is
being used for someone, or doing
something good for someone.”
18
Marin Arts & Culture
“Sometimes it will just be a
combination of colors. I see
something in my mind’s eye that
has to be done. When I meditate,
images go through my head and
then maybe as much as a year or
two later I‘ll try to do something
with them. Sometimes I have to
do it immediately. Sometimes
I throw it away as it doesn’t sit
well. Sometimes I have as many
as ten to twenty half done pieces
of work. So I turn them to face
the wall, so I don’t have to look
at them. I can leave a project for
a year. It depends on the mood
and everything coming together.
I try not to go in with any set idea.
Anything could happen at any
time...”
What messages are you conveying
in your art?
“I purposefully try not to
overthink what I’m doing. I let it
happen and if it has an impact… I
want it to have an impact...I hate
it here; I hate it – so I want the
art to go out and do something.
What that is and how that is I
don’t know. I don’t think too
much on it”.
Describe your creative process
“I listen to classical music and can
get lost in that. You get an image
and couple that with your art. I
can accidentally stumble on an
image, and from there, drawing
takes on a life on its own. So yes, I
paint listening to classical music or
something instrumental. I get into
it. Combining the two allows me
to relax and to let the art go”.
Thank you, Daniel, for taking the
time to talk to us. Keep being
creative and enjoy where your art
takes you.
Daniel, you’ve created some
wonderful pieces, and I love the
body canvas series. Tell me about
them.
“With these, it’s the first time I
allowed myself to go outside of
the ‘every line has to be perfect’
– It was the first time I let my
sense of humor, my emotions and
What gives you ideas/inspires you?
“Leopard” by Daniel Landry
For more information, please
contact:Leslie Lakes, Director P.A.T.H.
[email protected],
Prisonartstouchinghearts.org
A MarinLink 501 (c) 3 Non-Profit
Project Member San Rafael Chamber
of Commerce Nicola White, Director
of ArtReach: nicola.white@tidelineart.
com, www.artofsanquentin.com