| Danny Garcia. . . was born in a white, two-story house on a hill overlooking the Pacific coastal community of Monterey, California, on April 23, 1929. Of Portuguese ancestry, the artist acquired as a child the age-old knowledge and understanding of the Sea that his parents brought with them from the Azores. His work reflects his recourse to it as a source of life and inspiration. As a high school student, he worked as laboratory assistant and skin diver for local marine biologist Ed Ricketts on whom John Steinbeck based his character "Doc" in his novel, Cannery Row. This experience is reflected in his use of the "vertical color flow" that he originated to portray the columns and rays of refracted light in his undersea paintings. Two years of naval service in the Far East left an Oriental imprint on his renderings of landscapes and urban scenes. He studied art and architecture at Monterey Peninsula College, but his creativity and keen perception have lead him away from traditional styles to develop his own particular modes of expression in the several media in which he creates his work. Primarily an impressionist, Garcia's work ranges in style from realism to abstraction; he is a brilliant colorist and a creative force behind the "Carmel School of Art". Monsignor Edward Varni commissioned Garcia to paint the fourteen"Stations of the Cross" for the Chapel of the Most Precious Blood in Concord, and Father Jeremiah O'Sullivan commissioned Garcia to paint "The Crucifixion" for the alter of Saint Jude's Church in Marina, California. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the Kaiser Center Art Gallery in Oakland, California, the Museum Museum of Art in Monroe, Louisiana, and the Museum of Natural History and Art in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Notable private collectors who have acquired his work include Princess Margaret, Greer Garson, Mrs. Robert F, Kennedy, Mr. and Mrs. Steve Allen, Trini Lopez, Dean Martin, Mrs. Lauritz Melchior, Mr. and Mrs. George Shearing, Frank Sinatra, Bill Walsh, David Packard and David Duvall. Garcia's use of impasto for textural effect in his paintings reveals a propensity and talent for sculpture, which have come to rival those for his painting in the last twenty year's. The particular inspiration for his sculptural talent has been the Monterey Cypress Tree, unique to his beloved Monterey Peninsula. His equally unique miniature rendering of the Monterey Cypress in bronze emulates the art of bonsai and features the use of native Monterey Jade in pieces that range in size from six-inch freestanding sculptures to wall-hangers designed to custom specifications. His range of sculptural subjects has extended to the representation of sailboats, cattails and even to scenes taken from Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row. Though he has devoted much time and energy to his sculpture during this period, painting remains Garcia's first-love and primary passion. Recent years have seen a renewal of his commitment to it as he has completed numerous works to be displayed in his gallery as well as those commissioned by commercial patrons, such as Semco Engineering. The Diocese of Danville, California, commissioned a full-sized portrait of "Saint Isidore, Patron Saint of the Farmer", to be displayed at the entrance of the new Community Room of Saint Isidore's Church. At the Gallery in Cannel, Mr. Garcia is represented by Jodi Moran and Sam, his Gallery sales associates and by his wife, Carol, who aids in the selection or commissioning of his sculptures and artwork. The Garcia Gallery and Mr. Garcia's studio have been located on Ocean Avenue between Dolores and San Carlos for over forty years. The Gallery is open daily from 10:00 A.M. to 5 :00 P.M. You may contact the Gallery by: Mail at: P.O. Box 623, Carmel, CA 93921
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