About Dan Farley | Dan Farley Art

Dan Farley has been quietly creating his unique vision of the universe for over 40 years. As a child, he had little interest of participation in the realm of art, primarily because school personnel and other figures of authority, ( of all ages ), would invariably chastise him for not following the "rules". Then, one day, at the age of eight, in the summer of 1965, his best friend suggested they create their own monster hot rod tee shirts, (a la Big Daddy Roth), with crayons. Away from scrutinizing eyes, young Farley discovered real art was about FREEDOM. Rather than blindly accept the world others hand you, why not create your own? What a delicious revelation. Needless to say, he found this aspect of the world most to his liking. He's been off and running ever since.

His family moved frequently and he turned to art to keep him company, at least until he could make new friends. Although it was hectic, he feels privileged to of lived in specific locales during pivotal periods in West Coast "counter culture" history. And to of been young enough and open, (i.e. unprogrammed), enough to subliminally soak up the ambient consciousness of the times.

After his earliest years, in and around various sections of Los Angeles, his family briefly moved, in 1966, to, (the poor side), of the quaint village of Malibu. That is, until the night Hell's Angels showed up at one of his mother's otherwise peaceful beach parties and exited in true outlaw biker fashion via the adjacent feuding neighbor's property, at around three in the morning. Considering the high level of scrutiny the family was already receiving from having seven people occu- pying a one bedroom guest house, the decision was made, with ample input from the landlord, to make the move, in early 1967, to Topanga Canyon. After an idyllic homesteading there, juvenile Farley, against his wishes, was forced to move, but, in 1969, felt most fortunate to relocate, to the eclectic seaside enclave of Encinitas, catching the tail end of the "don't tell anyone about this place" era. A brief, sweet period, before mass influx altered the intimate, tangible sense of free form community forever.

Mister Farley strongly feels being at the locations and times fate placed him at, had a profound impact on how he viewed the world, growing up. He was ex- posed to many free thinking people, ideas and environments he probably would not of encountered otherwise. Yes, it sounds cliche and over used, but, you really did have to be there. Before the landscape became congested with stucco and conformity. Back when young spirits and young minds were encouraged to spread their invisible wings and enthusiastically explore the unknown cosmos. Back when there was a more immediate sense of the symbiosis of man and nature. A time of contagious optimism, of seemingly endless possibilities. A time of blowing away obstacles and limitations. A time of wanting to create something new and vibrant, unlike anything seen before.

Mister Farley feels supremely privileged to of been a part of that all too short lived passage of place and history, and, to be, in his own small way, a guardian of the ever elusive and powerfully tantalizing mass dream, shared by so many. And, above all, he feels infinitely honored to of been chosen by circumstance to be a humble caretaker of the garden of the imagination, with it’s inherent healing power and so much more.

And, yes, as regards the one question people ask him the most, in the words of Mister Farley:

"Just about everyone who sees my work asks how long it takes to finish a piece. Until the painting has communicated to me what it wants to become. And until I have communicated back, to it’s satisfaction, whatever it wants to hear. Until I can look and not be irritated by elements not yet fully manifested. And who knows how long that will take? Your eye will tell you when it's ready, and not until then. The only thing for certain, it's ALWAYS longer than one thinks. But why go to the lengths I do and spend such a mind numbing amount of time? Simple. Because I am as curious as anyone about what it will look like. And if I don't take the time and the care to do what NEEDS to be done, nobody else will. Out of the entire population of planet Earth, I am the only one qualified for this job."

"At times, it almost seems my paintings are more like lab experiments on canvas. I experiment with concepts and see where they take me. The majority of the time I truly DO NOT KNOW where ideas will lead, (what? You DON'T know?), or what I will find when I get there. On top of all that, I never know, in advance, how I am going to even recognize "there", once I do get there. You'd be amazed how many times I thought I was "there", only to be informed to the contrary.”

“And this is just the design and planning part, subject to change, at any point along the way. The actual work of bringing all the myriad bits and pieces into a state of oneness, once I have a fair idea of the final destination, is yet another thing. And, of course, foolishly ignoring everything I ever learned at Haardvark Business School, I do not hesitate, if need arises, to paint over anything which either isn't working, or used to work just perfectly, right up until until my latest dis- covery of "there". Yeah, it does take awhile, and you better believe it can be quite maddening. But I won't be satisfied, ( just CAN'T be satisfied ), doing it any other way. Believe me, I've tried. Perhaps God made me just intelligent enough to accomplish the task at hand and just dumb enough to think I could actually do it."

On a related note, the artist recently discovered the following words from the late Terrence Mckenna, and felt an immediate resonance towards his own creative motivations, as well as a need to pass this insight on to others.

"When you journey into the visionary state the greatest good you can do is bring back a new idea, because our world is endangered by the lack of good ideas. Our world is in crises because of the absence of consciousness. And. so. to whatever degree any of us can bring back a small piece of the picture and contribute it to the building of a new paradigm, then we participate in the redemption of the human spirit."

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