After Plein Air Easton 2021 this summer, there was a good bit of talk on the street about the art and artists that were awarded with best of show recognition. That wasn’t too surprising but what was to the Spy was the universal praise for the work of Daniel Robbins, who took the Artists Choice Award and was the winner of the quick draw competition. And given all this positive noise on Danny’s work, we decided to stop by his studio in Virginia for a quick check-in before his work goes on display at Studio B this weekend.
Almost unlike every other artist the Spy has profiled over the years, Danny had a clear sense of his artistic calling by the age of four. From those early days, his parents caught on that their son was destined for an art career, and were willing to support his attendance at Virginia’s high school programs for the arts. That lead to an arts degree at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he would eventually become an adjunct professor in the art department.
And while Robbins has explored many different approaches to his artwork during his lifetime, he talks in his Spy interview about the profound and lasting impact of his daughter’s birth, his wife’s post-birth health challenges, and finally the COVID pandemic over the last four years. During this time, his works with light, and his rediscovered passion for the ocean, which only a native of Virginia Beach could have, made him recast his work in ways he could never have imagined before these significant events impacted him and his family.
This video is approximately two minutes in length. For more information about Daniel Robbins and his new representation at Studio B, please go here.
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