The Pull of the Mississippi River

Jan 05

by lcoston in Featured 0 comments tags: Acrylic Painting, Arkansas, artist, blues music, delta landscapes, Mississippi River, Rural

The Pull of the Mississippi River

Note: This is the first in a series of posts from Daniel on the topic of “Why I paint the Arkansas Landscape.” In this first post, he writes about the influence of the Mississippi River on his work. I came back to southeastern Arkansas in 1981 and soon got settled in Dermott. After getting organized at the high school there, I was soon drawing what I saw around me which was the Delta. The Mississippi Delta, that is. I could feel that river for the first time in my life. And that’s kind of odd since Monticello, my hometown, was only 30 miles further west. But Monticello was in the hills and Dermott had been flooded in the ’27 Flood. In the 80’s, I remember watching thunderheads boiling up over the river…just a few miles east.

Oct 21

by lcoston in Featured 0 comments tags: Acrylic Painting, Arkansas, artist, Cantrell Gallery, church paintings, Daniel Coston, Delta churches, delta landscapes, historic paintings, Rural, south Arkansas

New Video – Southeast Arkansas Church Paintings

Over the years, Daniel has painted many of the wonderful and historic churches dotted throughout the southern part of Arkansas. We’ve collected some of those into a slideshow video for you to enjoy! The vast majority of the paintings in the video sold years ago but, if you’d like to see some of his recent work, call or visit Cantrell Gallery in Little Rock. You can also keep up with his work by “liking” his Facebook page: Daniel Coston Art Studio

Aug 27

by lcoston in Featured 0 comments tags: Acrylic Painting, Arkansas, artist, Artist Portfolio Magazine, Cantrell Gallery, Daniel Coston, Delta, delta landscapes, Rural

On Landscape Painting – Remember with Respect

I asked Daniel to share some thoughts on landscape painting, in conjunction with the publication of several of his artworks in the Landscapes issue of Artist Portfolio Magazine. It’s an honor to have his work selected alongside so many great artists! 1. How has your landscape painting style changed or evolved over the last 5 or 10 years? For many years I was simply painting a portrait of “a place.” Maybe it was a home place, a well-known building, or perhaps a country church. I still seek to render the “location” as it was or maybe still is. But as time has gone by, I’m also interested in putting the “place” in the right atmosphere’ or weather’ to make it seem more realistic. This can have the effect of making the scene more dramatic. 2. Is there a mood or feeling that your want viewers to take away from your landscape paintings? In many small towns and country crossroads, we find dilapidated churches, banks, and schools. I enjoy “renovating” some of these back to their original “glories.” But I also hope that the viewer will feel some sadness that these places are gone or going. Sometimes I try to find […]

May 09

by lcoston in Featured 0 comments tags: Acrylic Painting, Arkansas, artist, Cantrell Gallery, Daniel Coston, Delta, delta landscapes, Rural

New Video – Making “The Green Trim” by Daniel Coston

We took lots of photos asÂ Daniel worked on his paintings for his “Arkansas Weather Report” show in March at Cantrell Gallery. We thought it would be fun to create a video showing the progression of the paintings. Here is the first video, for the painting The Green Trim. The painting depicts an old country store, once thriving but now sitting abandoned by the roadside in Ladd, Arkansas. We are happy to say that the painting was purchased by an Arkansas fine art collector during the first week of the show. But if you like his work, Daniel has several other works for sale at Cantrell Gallery in Little Rock, Arkansas. Hope you enjoy the video!

Mar 24

by lcoston in Structures 2 0 comments tags: Arkansas, Cotton Belt, Delta, Grain Elevator, Rural

Inspiration and Memories from Eastern Arkansas

Welcome to the first of a series (hopefully) of posts presenting different perspectives of one of Daniel’s recent paintings. This inaugural post is a family collaboration! The painting discussed is “Downtown Weiner” and the perspectives are from Daniel and my dad, Thomas Darter, who grew up in nearby Fisher, AR. Their writings give insight into the process and inspiration for the painting, and a historical glimpse of rice country life.Â If you enjoy the post, please let us know! If you like the painting, you can see it on display until April 27th at Cantrell Gallery in Little Rock, AR.