M

ost artists typically say that their lives began with a big box of crayons.

Later on in life those waxy sticks with names such as “Robins Egg Blue” or “Jungle Green” are eventually traded for brushes, finely sharpened pencils, and even charcoal. Daniel Kaufman, on the other hand still has not abandoned his crayons, often seeing them daily all over his palms.

Daniel's paintings from afar and up close contain a coat of spiritual resonance, which Kaufman hoped to reflect when he started four decades ago.

What came for Daniel after the crayons were put away is in every sense truly a journey. The first artist to win a Fulbright scholarship, Daniel seized the opportunity to study Japanese art history, art theory, visual arts and photography in the hopes of one day blending them all together in an art form he had not yet discovered.

In the meantime, what he had to guide him to that discovery was a lifelong passion for poetry, coupled with a strong fascination

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for photography beginning at age 13. This later lead him to travel the Irish Isle at age 26, as well as work for National Geographic.

Even back then the work he created was

renowned, collected in photo books, and received genuine praise in the field. Kaufman however felt it was merely touching a surface of a bigger world in art.

“Photography starts from the inside, you see something and you respond,” he said. “It is very compositional, very balanced, and

trained my mind to be balanced. Art though to me is all within, that's what I wanted.”

Daniel sees himself as a spiritual

practitioner, where he removes the ego through encaustic. The higher realms of consciousness he hopes to attain in his art is at his gentle whim.

“Every painting is an experiment, I learn each time. It's a co-creation with a higher power, nothing is pre-planned, it's all unconscious, the paintings make themselves,”

OFF THE EASEL MAGAZINE – WINTER 2016

ABOVE: “Full Moon Rising”

Manipulated Wax on Wood 16" x 14"

LEFT: “Jubilant”

Manipulated Wax on Wood 40" x 32"