We recently connected with Daniel Kunkel and have shared our conversation below.
Daniel, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
My story is that of an exhibiting artist who balances the time and energy necessary to chase an artistic vision as well as commitments to other things that I also wanted to get out of this life: a family, steady income, and my pursuit of outdoor adventures.
Where does my work ethic come from? Originally, I suppose it came from when I was young, watching the adults around me go to work five or six days a week, and when they came home from their jobs, they worked some more. Seeing these habits of effort and taking care of what needed to be done made work seem very noble to me.
As I got older I began to recognize that there were things I wanted to accomplish. I developed a habit of visualizing a goal and then making a specific plan of action to achieve that particular outcome. For example, if I wanted to be a league champion I would stay after and run extra sprints. If I wanted to climb a mountain I would do months of training specific to that task. If I wanted to be a respected visual artist I had to work every free hour I had to develop a body of work, and then do that all over again for the next body of work. I also wanted to have a family and a means to support them. I knew my art was not going to support a family, so I chose a second career in teaching. This suited my need for financial stability as well as the necessary time off to pursue a parallel career as an exhibiting artist.
My children are raised now and on their own quite successfully. I have retired as a classroom teacher of math and science. Through it all, I made my art and continue to do so today. If I had it to do over again, I would do it the same way: Prioritize what you want to accomplish with your life, and with patience and a consistent work ethic, take the necessary actions to make it happen.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am not always comfortable with the many definitions of “art” or “artist”, but I suppose that is what I am. I make paintings and sculpture, and have been doing so for most of the last forty five years.
I think I am attracted to the activity of making things becuase of the absolute freedom it allows me to assert. In almost any other activity I can think of- doing one’s job, driving a car, or just standing in line at the grocery, there are rules that people must follow. Even riding in an elevator has its own unspoken rules. I am not against rules at all, and I understand their purpose. As a child growing up in a somewhat chaotic and crowded house, I think the amount of time I spent playing alone in the quiet of a creek or in the woods or fishing probably fueled this desire for freedom and solitude.
When I make a painting or sculpture, I am free to imagine and to do what I want. Though that aspect alone would be reason enough, I also enjoy the idea that when a painting does not work out well, that is on me. Likewise, when things come off in a manner that I am happy with, that success is my own.
I have noticed that the longer I make art, the more I understand things about me. Looking back over the span of some four decades, I can see that I have consistently focussed on a few central ideas without ever consciously trying to do so. Given that I could make anything that I wanted to make, that consistency of vision and preference is mysterious to me and causes me to wonder why I do things the way that I do. It keeps me following the trail to see where else it leads.
I recently had an exhibit of paintings and objects at the Weston Gallery at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was titled “Unseen”, a loose narrative I have been developing about interdimensional beings sharing advanced ideas with the earliest settlers of the Earth. Far out, right? I am currently working on a new exhibit which continues along that line.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Follow your own particular vision, not what is popular or in vogue today. By doing this, whatever you make- good or bad, will be authentic and uniquely yours, and not some part of somebody else’s ideas.
2. Don’t concern yourself with other’s opinions, good or bad. It is your time and energy you are committing to this thing, so let the only opinion that really matters be your own.
3a. Have a regular work schedule. Do something every day if possible. Ideas tend to come from ideas, so try to generate as much activity as you can.
3b. It’s okay to sneak off to fish for a few days if you are feeling stale. Make sure to take a pencil and paper along with you, you will fnd that you will need it.
My advice to those who aspire to be artists is to first understand that the world does not care if you make art or not. Therefore, your art should be kept a private matter and something that you do for yourself. As a healthy balance, have another life going on as well, one that is more public, social and normal. Family, friends, service to others. I believe that keeping this kind of balance will give you not only a better general happiness, but also the longevity necessary to allow your art develop and mature as you develop and mature as a person.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
The Bible.
From it I have learned who I am, who we are, and what is important. It keeps me in check.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.Danielkunkelart.com
Image Credits
photos courtesy of the artist
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
