Honoring the Artist: Daniel Pollera

- Marion Wolberg Weiss

This week's cover by Dan Pollera presents an inviting, comforting scene where winter woes and economic stresses disappear. Who wouldn't want to sit on one of Pollera's beach chairs and contemplate the universe?

Q: There's something quite different about this week's cover, called "Summer Colors." It's not a real place, right?

A: Right. I did my own painting, composed my own umbrellas and chairs, added a human touch like lemonade. People look at it and put themselves in the chairs. I also composed the colors, like the oranges and pinks.

Q: You mentioned that the setting was based on photographs you took in Nantuckett. But this work is unique. It's so comforting.

A: It's a "safe haven" - the setting is protected by open water. It's warm, bright, cheerful - not like the doom and gloom of these catastrophic economic times. I hope when people look at the painting, it will leave them in a better mood.

Q: Your work is like that. It always leaves people in a better mood.

A: I took my idea of comfort up a notch.

Q: Speaking of comfort, I know your family and the comfort they provide mean a lot to you.

A: Yes. My daughter is now in the M. A. teaching program for Family Consumer Science at Queen's College. My son, Danny, is doing well, too. He's a construction inspector.

Q: You're fixing up a family home in Quoque that was left to your wife. Again, that place represents a family tradition.

A: True. Every weekend we've been renovating the house, but I still paint in the morning before I go to Quoque.

Q: I know you also think about the world at large, not just your art and family. What are your thoughts about the economic bad times?

A: I'm an optimist, not a pessimist. I'm going with my gut when I say come September things will be better. Some day soon we'll say, "Remember when it was bad?"

Q: Regardless of the times, how have you changed in your personal and professional life?

A: I'm not as compulsive as I was. I was so consumed by my art, art was controlling me, not the other way around. I was always thinking about what had to be done. I had to tear myself away not to think about the work. Now I just put my brush down and walk away, although I'm working everyday, seven days a week.

Q: How has this change helped you?

A: It gives me food to move forward. It motivates me to paint better, to find new challenges to paint. I now try and go with the flow, to take on whatever comes my way. I don't have to have great accomplishments. I just want to be happy.

The original of this week's cover is at Chrysalis Gallery in Southampton. Daniel Pollera's work can also be seen at Sheldon Fine Art in Newport, Rhode Island and Wynne/Falconer Gallery in Cape Cod (Chatham, MA).

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