Daniel Kelly

Daniel Kelly was born in Great Falls, Montana and grew up in Idaho Falls. Before leaving for Japan over twenty five years ago, he spent $1.95 on the only art book he could afford. At the back of this small book by the woodblock print artist Tokuriki was an invitation, "if the reader of this book has a chance to visit Kyoto, feel free to contact the author."

Verne Gallery & Daniel Kelly

Daniel Kelly first telephoned my Cleveland gallery on a cold, snowy day in January 1986, as a winter storm howled outside the window. Daniel Kelly asked if I knew who he was, and I told him I was familiar with his work from several art catalogs. He agreed to rearrange his return trip to Japan to include a four-hour stopover in Cleveland.

The snow was falling heavily and the visibility was low by the time I reached the airport. Rather than battle the elements, Daniel Kelly and I found an empty gate and began lining up his prints along the large windows. We didn't realize that another flight had been scheduled for that particular gate until we turned around to find a crowd of nearly one hundred people watching us.

I was impressed by the images I saw that day, and I felt very comfortable with Daniel Kelly. His early prints reflected the landscape images of traditional Japan, using a wonderful blend of Eastern and Western techniques. I told him I was very interested in showing his work in the gallery. He, in turn, unconcerned about how his own sales might be affected, has generously introduced me to other American artists studying and living in Japan.

Over the ten years we've known each other, I have watched Daniel's images go through numerous transformations. I've come to realize that Daniel Kelly is a risk taker, both in his art and his life, and that he has seized many opportunities along the way to his success.

His interest in art began at an early age. "From the first grade, I loved it," he says. " It's the love of art that makes a child a good artist or not. If you love it, it's easy."

There were no museums in Great Falls. His first exposure to art consisted of walking by the studio of C. M. Russell, the famous cowboy artist, and seeing the brushes and art materials in the display case. Some of Russell's early art in the local children's library was a bit "clunky" in Daniel's estimation, and he thought to himself, "I can do this. Art isn't this big holy thing."
At the lunch counter in the local community center, Daniel Kelly remembers staring at a traveling show of several large expressionist paintings that he thinks were probably the works of Franz Kline. This served as his introduction to contemporary art.

Despite Daniel Kelly interests, none of the Catholic colleges he attended offered a degree in art, and he majored in psychology instead. It wasn't until graduate school at Oregon's Portland State University that he became involved in ceramics and glass blowing. After moving to San Francisco and setting up a flat-glass factory, an advertisement in City Lights Bookstore led him to art classes at Morton Levin's Graphic Arts Workshop. Although many art schools were more conceptually oriented at the time, Daniel Kelly says, "Mort was very severe when I got there." Daniel was taught art in the traditional way, through such disciplines as color theory and perspective.

After a year of intense work with Mort on Saturdays and evenings, Daniel Kelly met a Japanese woman from Kyoto, who invited him to visit her in Japan. He was interested in the woman, and was intrigued by the idea of traveling for a month with a native of the 1 country. At Mort's suggestion, Daniel Kelly decided to learn something about Japanese art. With little money in his pocket, he headed for the bookstore.

"I went back to City Lights", Daniel says. "I couldn't afford the expensive art books, except for a little paperback for $1.95 by Tokuriki. I could afford that. In the back of the book it said, 'If the reader of this book has a chance to visit Kyoto, feel free to contact the author.'" Daniel Kelly thought to himself, ''I'm going to Kyoto. I'm going to see Tokuriki!"

Coincidentally, his Japanese girlfriend had once interviewed this famous traditional woodblock printer, and she took Daniel Kelly to Tokuriki's home soon after they arrived in Kyoto. ''At that point, Tokuriki was about eighty years old; Daniel says. "After seeing my slides, he asked me if I'd like to study with him. He said it would take five to seven years, I would have lunchtimes off, and to be there at eight o'clock in the morning. I thought, This is a great opportunity. I'll take it as far as I can."

Tokuriki showed Daniel Kelly the tiny rooms where the carving and printing took place. There were traditional woodblock-printing benches on the floor. Tokuriki pointed to his own bench and told Daniel Kelly, "You can work here".

The first woodblock Daniel Kelly made was black and white. During the process, he had to work on his knees. Since his arms were longer than Tokuriki's, Daniel Kelly moved some of the materials around slightly, in order to make himself more comfortable. A Japanese woman appeared immediately, saying, "Dame!" which means bad. She proceeded to put everything back where it had been.

Daniel Kelly was a bit bewildered by this, until not long after, while thumbing through an art book from the Edo period, he saw a print of a woodblock printer's bench. Everything was in exactly the same position as the materials on Tokuriki's bench.

Daniel Kelly reflects on this experience: "Tokuriki is still alive and is ninety-five, or maybe ninety-six. He's a dinosaur. The man he studied woodblock printing from was a printer of Hiroshige. It's a really quick, small world and how little it's changed!

"Tokuriki introduced me generously to everything in the woodblock world. I still go back to pay my respects. I'm still his deshi, his apprentice-it's a lifelong thing."

Daniel Kelly tell us that Tokuriki taught him some important lessons about issues other than technique. "Tokuriki said that, during the Edo period, a woodblock print was the same price as a bowl of noodles. He advised me not to be expensive, not to be elitist. He said it's for the public because it's printed art. Make it accessible to the world."

Daniel's first show, at a Takashimaya department store, was in the summer of 1981. Soon after, he submitted a print entitled "Rolling In" to the College Women's Association of Japan (CWAJ). This woodblock, showing girls riding bicycles, was his first print to be released publicly and it was an edition of one hundred. Daniel attended the opening of the CWAJ print show, one of the most important print shows in Tokyo. In one weekend, all one hundred of his prints were sold out! Daniel was taken by such complete surprise, he only had one or two copies of the print left for himself. Shortly after the show, he was informed that the same print had sold at auction for five times the original price. The artist Sarah Brayer, who was with him at the time remarked, "You're not even dead yet!"

Daniel Kelly Art

Rolling Out	Eye to Eye
Red Coat	Foggy Morning
Madoka	Holy Smoke
Spinoff -Japanese Lantern Series	Red Hook
Wink	Rolling Out