Dan’s Unique Journey

Dan Colonna grew up in Cleveland Ohio and after high school moved to Central Florida.  He spent most of his time in Orlando designing for the theme park industry.  Dan’s love of travel took him around the globe to Japan, Portugal, Switzerland, France, Spain and Italy.  Between the life style, beautiful landscape, and his “Campobassani” heritage, Italy has always been the place he feels most at home.  In 2006 Dan and his wife Rhonda, married on the Italian Amalfi coast.  They later pursued a shared lifelong dream of living in Italy, which they were able to fulfill in 2018/2019.  They now reside in Asheville, NC.

Dan always wanted to pursue a career in the arts and had a deep curiosity for classical painting methods.  Unable to find an educational program focusing on that knowledge, he took matters into his own hands.  He began a quest to obtain information on fine art techniques used by past masters.  Through research, trial, and error he pieced together methods of some of his favorite artists over the centuries, such as, Bosch, Caravaggio, Bocklin, Bouguereau and Dali, to name a few.  By the late 1980’s Dan developed a unique classical realist style of art.  He divided his time between drawing and oil painting, primarily focusing on dark figurative subjects.

In 2013, Dan was faced with a huge challenge. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer.  Doctors told him he had 8 to 14 months to live and to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Rather than giving into that prognosis, he worked harder than ever.  Dan says “The road has been rough, and it continuous to change as new physical challenges arise, but I refuse to let it stop me.” Dan continues, “I preferred working, representationally. Now, my neurological limitations make it harder for me to do so. Over the past several years I have come to understand that life sometimes chooses a different trail to cross. The necessity of being able to adapt is an important lesson that this situation has taught me.”  After struggling to create work in the style he had always been passionate about, he realized that it was time to release and let the uncontrolled feelings and images of his subconscious guide his work.  Dan started with a series of surreal “bio-scape” graphite drawings which enabled him to represent his new emotional and physical landscape. Dan adds, “My challenges are constantly evolving, which means my techniques will have to as well.  I am prepared for this to be an ever changing situation, and I look forward to where the next evolution takes me. No matter what, I know I’m not alone. The support and love of my family and friends will continue to guide me beyond my limitations. Plus, being able to lose myself in the artistic landscape, is its own therapy. Creation is a great healer!”

This “Artist Profile” was made by the incredibly talented team at Sideshow Collectibles. You can see more about Sideshow at https://www.sideshow.com