DOUGLAS FLACKMAN
The origins of my artistic inspiration can be traced back to my childhood growing up in Ramsey, New Jersey. I began to professionally paint in 1979 at the age of twenty-two. I studied at “The Barn”, as I affectionately called the Ridgewood Art Institute for many years. I had the good fortune to have had the renowned painter, Arthur Maynard, the student of Frank Vincent Dumond, to be my mentor and teacher for many years. From Arthur, I learned the subtle nuances of light and color and how to turn a blank white canvas into the serene and peaceful landscapes that I came to be known for.
A good part of my education has come from nature, life experiences and my travels. I have developed an intimate relationship with the natural world and this is something that I attempt to express in my painting. Nothing makes me happier than to be in nature, whether viewing a sunset, mountains or oceans, looking at a simple tree, listening or witnessing a songbird, hiking and walking the trails of national parks or back country roads. My travels have taken me to France, West Africa, Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia, Central America, the Caribbean, New Zealand, Hawaii, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland to name a few.
Over the course of my artistic career, I have received many recognized awards. I My work has been featured on the covers of the Orvis Fly Fishing Catalogue; Yankee Magazine; The Artful Mind Magazine and Berkshire Living Magazine. My works have been shown in galleries in Carmel, California; the Douglas Flackman Gallery of Fine Art in Sedona, Arizona; Cavalier Galleries of Greenwich, Connecticut, Nantucket, Massachusetts, and New York City. I was represented by Tilting at Windmills Gallery of Manchester Vermont for over 20 years. I also had my own gallery, Douglas Flackman Gallery of Fine Art, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts for a number of years. I have also had many major commissions, both private and corporate. Presently, I am represented by both the Lisa Helmholz Gallery of New York and myself.
I have resided in Vermont during the early years of my career and have lived in Sedona, Arizona and Nantucket, Massachusetts prior to my settling in the bucolic town of Alford, a tiny town located outside of Great Barrington, Massachusetts here in the Berkshires. The beauty of my natural surroundings is something that holds great importance to me and something that helps to feed my soul on a spiritual level.
I am an artist at heart. Painting is my passion and I am both a singer/songwriter as well. As an established artist, my creative passions still live within me. My work has evolved and has currently taken me exploring the world of abstracts. This is an endless journey of self expression and self discovery. My work reflects the manifestation of my commitment to art and this process called life.