The first painting ever to make an impression on me was a very old oil on panel hanging above the living room door in my grandmother’s home. It scared me to death. I was both fascinated and terrified.  The painting was a gloomy nocturne of Mission Santa Inès, at least I think that's what it was. It’s gone now, and no one in the family knows where it is. It looked like a Charles Rollo Peters painting… who knows, maybe that isn't what it looked like at all. None of that is the point... the impression was the thing. The impression that painting made on me has lasted a lifetime. 

The spectral ghostly feel it evoked, hard edges of day replaced by smudges and smears. Was it reality or a dream, a scene from this life or the life to come? The dark shapes in the distance concealed a whole world in the dark, one that was still and hidden. 

I’d give anything to get my hands on that painting now, the memory of that image has become a personal mission for me.  

Now I haunt lonely places day and night, exploring that world and working to make sense of it, to express it's hidden power, and to share those moments with you.

I was raised in California’s Central Valley and the Tehachapi Mountains and now live in the Los Angeles area where most of the people are. Naturally I’m drawn to where I can begin to hear myself think. I’m looking forward to sharing my vision with you and I hope you like the work.

Damian Kinsella, 2020

SDG

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Member, California Art Club