Daniel is a native Kentuckian and self-taught artist. Working from his home studio, he sculpts stone using the Direct Method. The technique allows for spontaneity and freedom of design within his sculpture. He uses traditional hand tools in the execution of his stonework. These tools allow Daniel to maintain a level of control that modern practices leave behind, and they keep him in close connection with the ancient art of sculpture.
Daniel uses indigenous limestone reclaimed from demolished buildings. The material, due to its age and history, arrives in his studio battered and beaten. The crude and rough condition of the stone dictates, to a large extent, the inspiration for design of the final piece.
The diverse influences for Daniel’s work range from Japanese tea gardens to archaic and classical Greco-Roman figural styles, as well a primitivism and Post-Impressionism. Daniel exhibits his work throughout Kentucky, as he continues to explore the enigmatic medium of stone.