It is with precision, depth and painterly motion that artist Darryl Pottorf captures a moment in time that takes his audience on an adventure of intrigue.

“Unerased Journeys: A Survey of Works by Darryl Pottorf” is an imaginative and powerful collection of imagery both in photographic transfer and brush strokes. The artwork lends itself towards collage, yet it is the transfer process that Pottorf explains that adds the dimension. “The artwork is based on my photographs. I can take just a brush stroke from the photograph or I can take a section and paint or go back in a take a pencil and draw within it. I sometimes add objects.”

"Faces of September 2001" - Darryl Pottorf
“Faces of September 2001” – Darryl Pottorf

On what had begun as a snowy day in Colorado then turned to sunshine, I had the distinct pleasure to meet Darryl Pottorf at the Museum of Outdoor Arts (MOA) inside gallery to watch the process of new work being hung. We walked and talked about his life’s work, journeys and what sparks his creative juices to start working on a new piece. “When I’ve just come back from a journey, I have lots of fresh material.” Pottorf will sometimes let his imagination flow, more often then not he comes back from his trips with an idea for a new work of art in mind. “When I get back from a trip I have a lot of new information that gets me excited. I start playing with the images and start laying them out on a canvas on the floor,” Pottorf explains. “I usually work quite large, even larger than what you see here. I will scan an image and have those blown up. I usually work on the floor because the paintings are so big, plus the transfer process, things run and you have less chance of running when on the floor.” Though Pottorf’s work may be scaled down in a sense for the walls of MOA, they are no less powerful in their message. “Often I will lay it out and think I am going to paint one thing but it changes as I go. I will start with my favorite part of it and work out from that and usually I’ve put several different things in it and eliminated some of the things that I thought I was going to use. It evolves as I am working.” Pottorf enjoys what he does and it is reflected within each of his pieces.

When Pottorf graduated from high school he and his friends had planned to travel the world. The plan was to head to Europe, however his friends decided not to go and Pottorf ended up going by himself and stayed four months. “I love Europe and I love Florence, Italy the most,” Pottorf states with a smile. “Later on I found out that Florida State had a program in Florence and I could pay Florida State tuition and be in Florence. The history of it all, everything is so beautiful.”

"Good Kids On The Block - To Spite My Face" Darryl Pottorf
“Good Kids On The Block – To Spite My Face” Darryl Pottorf

The exhibition of Darryl Pottorf is truly a journey of the senses. Each room of the MOA gallery allows the audience to experience the full depth of Pottorf’s work. In the sound gallery is a short film of Pottorf’s photography combined with the music composition written especially for it by Kat Epple.

This is a Must Attend. Opening Reception and Meet the Artist Saturday, April 8th, 6pm-9pm. Museum of Outdoor Arts, 1000 Englewood Parkway, #230, Englewood, CO 80110. Exhibition runs through July 15, 2017.

“Life is a grand possibility – Art Should reflect it. My palette is based on the photographs that I utilized in it. There is underpainting and I go back in after and Paint again, but it’s a transfer process of imagery, photographic imagery that I can limitlessly use as a palette. I can take one brushstroke from a photograph or take a row. I can do a scribble – I can just do anything with that imagery. I like being painterly.
This is my Strength and my talent. The Subtleties are important.”
-Darryl Pottorf

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