Painting isn’t quite paying the bills (yet) so what is your real day job?

For now I manage the graphic design and technology for a company that sells home improvement products online. Artwork? Yeah, I do that. But I also know where to find you a posh new vessel sink. I guess you could say I am multi-talented.

Even though your artwork is just a hobby, how does it affect your life?

Art directly influences my emotional states, so I use it to change the way I feel. Whether it’s a curse or a blessing, suffering through any kind of sadness puts me into creative overdrive, which makes me produce my best work. Because I know that, I consciously try to be less protective and volunteer myself into situations that could be potentially wonderful or potentially awful, knowing that if things go badly, once I’m past the initial wave of pain, I’ll be vaulted by inspiration that I wouldn’t have been able to tap into otherwise.

Where do you find this inspiration, and how does it translate into your paintings?

When I look out into the world, I see millions of perfect fragments of beauty- things that seemto be hidden fromthe average view. It could be the suggestive bend of an eyebrow or the way that sunlight filters through a flower petal. I findmyself awestruck by these sights and feel compelled to communicate the essence of whatmakes themspeak tome. I find nature to be visually exceptional. I’m also obsessed with the female form as a universal messenger of beauty.

What are your other passions in life?

Besides art, I’m completely wrapped up in music. This year I’ve been listening to a lot of Brazilian tropicalia type stuff, like Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. I think it’s amazing. I picked up guitar at the tail end of high school, and I’ve spent the last seven years teaching myself to sing, play drums, play some limited piano, and engineer and produce records. Right now I’mnearing completion on an album that’s meant to team up with many of my paintings and some lighting design experiments to all be part of the same big project, under the name Yes Means Yes. I want to be a cultural force.

As a possible future cultural force, is there anything you should first warn us about?

When I’m alone, I can get pretty weird. I talk to myself, make strange noises, run and jump around, and sing a lot. I always wonder if I’m alone on that, or just one of the crowd. It’s a subject that’s rarely broached.Also, I love kiwi fruit, and I eat them skin and all, just biting right in like an apple. Sure, there’s a little bit of fuzz, but who cares?

Where will Dan Grayson be in ten years?

By the time 2017 rolls around, I’d like to be swimming through an ocean of gold coins, like Scrooge McDuck. Actually, I don’t dream of being obscenely wealthy, but there are a few big things I’d like to accomplish. I’d like to build a house that I designed a couple of years ago that has a stream running around it and a lower floor that has aquariums for windows. That’s not going to be cheap…maybe I will need to be rich. I’d like to run a premiere recording studio, and I’d definitely like to still be painting as seriously as ever.