Dan's Papers Cover Artist Daniel Fiore Paints a Mer-Boy in the Hamptons
Remsenburg’s Daniel Fiore has been immersed in art his entire life and has never wanted to do anything else. And from fine art, such as this week’s cover, to graphic design and photo retouching work, he does it all.
What was the inspiration for this piece?
The idea for this piece sprang off of the last piece that was on the cover of Dan’s Papers, with the kids building the sand castle that went up and up into the sky. I guess I have a series going focused on kids at the beach that incorporates some whimsical elements. My wife had the initial idea for this one, I think, with each of the boys going home at the end of a long day of playing. The fact that one of them is your typical every day kid and one happens to be a mer-boy who lives in the ocean makes no difference to either of them. I like the sentiment.
What have you been up to, artistically, since that last cover you created for Dan’s Papers?
I continue to do plenty of graphics work and photo retouching. As far as illustration goes, I’ve had a couple of pieces in the annual “Southampton Scenes” show at Rogers Memorial Library. I also illustrated the activity pages for a children’s book that came out in Fall 2017. It was exciting to get that job and a lot of fun to do.
That cover art was also set on the beach. What draws you to the beach as a setting for your work?
Living around here, you naturally have the beach environment on your mind. But what’s interesting is that I wouldn’t say that I generally focus on the beach in my illustrations. I think that for this piece and the last one, the beach just happened to be a good setting to tell those stories.
Between all the work you do, from retouching and restoration to graphic design and illustration, is there one you prefer?
Definitely illustration. My continuous goal is to be able to focus exclusively on art and illustration. I am happy to have the design and photo-retouching skills however. That is certainly not a bad way to make a living while building up my portfolio and client base on the illustration side.
At last, we’re only one week away from Memorial Day. What are you most looking forward to about summer on the East End?
The weather. This was a rough spring. My family and I just love doing the typical summer stuff—beach, pool, bbq. We vacation every summer in Rockport, Massachusetts, so we can’t wait for that.
Where’s the most unusual place your paintings or illustrations have appeared?
Right out of college I did a series of illustrations for Dick’s Sporting Goods that appeared on snowboards and skateboards. I’m not sure how unusual that is, but it’s definitely not a place I expected see my work when I was studying illustration in school!
If you could sit down to coffee with any artist from history, who would it be and what would you talk about?
I would love to spend some time with Norman Rockwell. Since high school I’ve been drawn to his paintings and I suppose that led me to illustration. I would love to hear stories from that whole period when he was working. It was a great time for American illustration. It just seems like he had the life!
See more of Daniel Fiore’s work at danielfiore.com.