Born in Nebraska in 1963. Grew up in central Nebraska, graduated From North Platte Senior High in 1982.

Married in 1983 to Tina Bohlender. Tina is an artist specializing in Fiber Art. She is also the mother of their three children, and now grandmother of their two grandchildren.

Earned a BFA from Kansas State University in 1990, after completing basic training and electronics training for the Army National Guard in South Carolina and Georgia.

Earned a MFA from Fort Hays State University in Hays, KS in 1992 .

Taught Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Design, Sculpture, and many General Ed art classes at several colleges and Universities within the last 20 years. These include The University of Nebraska at Kearney, Bradley University, in Peoria Illinois, Mid-Plains Community College, in North Platte Nebraska, and most recently, Ceramics at the Verde Campus of Yavapai College, in Clarkdale, Arizona.

Tina and Dan have always lived with art as the center of their lives. They have collaborated and sold at festivals for years, have built and operated two coffeehouse/ venues, a Fiber Art Shop, a contemporary art gallery, and tattoo shop among other ventures.

The geological formations of Arizona, and the relationship the local people have with this piece of earth moved me to focus on ceramic stoneware forms that relate human attributes to stone, and earthen aspects to humans. Here I began to incorporate hand building with clay, statue restoration techniques, metal, and the use of resins to achieve his high-fired stoneware creations, which range in size from small to heights of ten feet or more.

My art is heavily figurative and illustrates "the distorted realism of the human condition". My pieces transmit human qualities from compassion and understanding, to degradation and despair. Confronting the gambit of human emotional states and physical conditions, I try to relate my observations honestly. Sometimes it is beautiful, sometimes it is not, but life is not always pretty. I look for simple truths to illustrate that may not be seen by all. I continue to be inspired by observing individuals and their interactions with each other, society and the earth.

1990 Charlotte Scott Art Scholarship

CLASSES TAUGHT

Yavapai College Clarkdale Campus, Clarkdale AZ

Spring    2005 Ceramics I, II, III, IV 

Fall        2005 Ceramics I, II, III, IV     

Spring    2006 Ceramics I, II, III, IV  
Summer  2006 Ceramics I, II               

Bradley University Peoria, Illinois

Spring   2002  3-D Design

Fall       2001   Drawing I

                 2-D Design

University of Nebraska Kearney, NE

Graduate Lecturer

Spring 1998   Printmaking I

               Printmaking I-IV

               Senior Show-Printmaking              

Fall   1997     Printmaking I

               Oil & Acrylic Painting I

               Oil & Acrylic Painting I-IV

               Independent Study - Painting

               Senior Show- Painting
Summer 1997 Art Appreciation

Spring  1997  Drawing II

               Art Appreciation

Fall 1996       Fundamentals of Art

               Fundamentals of Art

               Drawing II

Mid-Plains Community College North Platte, NE

Spring, 1995 Ceramics I

              Ceramics II

Fort Hays State University Hays KS
 Graduate Teaching Assistant

Fall 1990 to    Fundamentals and Appreciation of Art

Fall 1992                  5 consecutive semesters

2011 Resident artist, Gallery rep, Tattoo artist at d'Arte Gallery of Contemporary Art and Ink, Sedona AZ

2004-2005 Established and operated Random Acts of Coffee, Coffee House/Gallery

Provided good coffee, an alternative art space, organize shows, artists, and musicians. promotion of the arts and artists Sedona,AZ

2001-2002 Established and operatedThe Freudian Sip, Coffee House/Gallery

Washington, IL

Provided good coffee, an alternative art space, organize shows, artists, and musicians. promotion of the arts and artists in the small suburb of Peoria Illinois

2001- 2002 Sculptor/Statue Restoration Contractor Metamora, Illinois

Specialized service completing professional restoration on plaster,wood, fiberglass, and marble statuary, as well as colorization of new statues, and creation of commissioned portrait busts, mold making and casting in various materials.

2000- 2001 Church Restoration Artist The Berlinger Company, Peoria, IL

Principal Artist/Sculptor of liturgical artwork, new & antiquities.

Restoration and conservation of plaster, wood, and marble statuary, paintings, mosaics, stained glass, altars, religious artifacts, as well as building interior and exterior renovation and restoration.

Participation in all areas of casting to include: tooling in clay, mold making in silicon, urethane, plaster, mold assembly, fabrication of specialized tools, welding, pouring metal, finishing.

1999 Assistant Printer Riverhouse Editions, Steamboat Springs, CO

multi-plate color intaglio printing, non toxic printing, photoetching techniques, monoprints, curation, electroplating, and working with Artists at a professional printing facility owned by William Van Straaten. Worked closley with artist Fred Tomacelli. Printed and currated recent editions byJack Cowen, Susan Hamilton, and Lawrence Gipe.

1996-1998 Preparator Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA) University of

Nebraska, Kearney

Conservation and preparatory duties to include: Maintain and organize private collection and new acquisitions, In charge of receiving and preparation of new shows, hanging, lighting, removing, packaging and shipping.

1993-1998 Established and operated The Tangled Web, Fiber Art Shop and Studio in North Platte, and Kearney, NE. Performed all aspects of running a small retail business, specializing in Fiber arts: spinning, weaving, knitting, old world crafts, and homebrewing equiptment supplies and expertise.

MEMBERSHIPS/ ACTIVITIES

2002-2004 Sedona Arts Center Member and exhibitor

1998-1999 Kearney Area Artist Guild member,

Board member, co-founder of the Kearney Arts Council

Organized Advanced Printmaking Student Show, January

Coordinator - Concerts in the Park Kearney, NE

Organizer KidzArt Days in Kearney, NE

1997 Juror - ANAC Traveling Show, Kearney, NE March 1997

Organized Advanced Students of Painting Show, December 1997

Organized Advanced Drawing Student Exhibition, December 1997

1995-1996 Offered non-credit Community Education classes in Printmaking at

Mid-Plains Community College. 1995-1996

1995 Juror- Nebraska Regional high School Competition, Mid-Plains

Community College, December 1995

1994 Honorably discharged after 11 years as Sergeant in the Army National Guard