Resetting The Pace
ON VIEW NOW through Jan 31, 2025
Closing Reception Jan 31 (5p-8p)
Viewing Hours: M-F 9a-5p or by appointment
Gallery 440, 440 S. Main Street, Fort Worth, TX
Resetting The Pace examines the complexities of domestic life, blending the joys and challenges of caretaking with the pursuit of an elastic mind.
Dale uses large scale painting as preliminary world building to reflect on home life and caretaking, turning the mundane into something grand while addressing feelings of stagnation and overwhelm.
Expansive works in oil depict maximalist ecosystems of both vast natural beauty and more intimate settings of backyards and patios, serving as a canvas to meditate on longterm friendships,, loneliness and the gap between ambitions and resources. Smaller works and mixed media installations serve as a visual journal, capturing unfinished projects, memories, and daydreams.
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The Float, 2024, 60'x14', 411 S. Main St., Fort Worth, TX
This year, I had the honor of receiving the Arttooth Artist in Business Grant to create a mural for the 4Eleven, a restored 1920s warehouse in Fort Worth's Near Southside. The building is home to several small businesses, including Emporium Pies, Dusty Biscuit Beignets, Bocca Osteria Romana, a therapy event center, and a wedding venue.
Commissioned by Art Tooth’s Artist in Business Grant, the mural is located in a newly developed public space called "The Squeeze," a small street facing alleyway serving as a connector to Bryan Avenue businesses. After community efforts secured a public easement, the space has now become a much needed gathering spot for people to enjoy a slice of pie, relax with friends and take photos. The project received financial support from Near Southside, Fort Worth, and the NTCF Arts Fund.
I was given creative freedom for this mural and also needed to consider the needs of the businesses at 4Eleven. My goal was to make a bold statement at the street entrance to draw people in, while transitioning to more muted earth tones as the mural progresses down the alley. This transition creates a neutral backdrop for wedding photography and complements the colors of the surrounding buildings.
Spanning nearly 60 feet, the finished mural is an ambient, hazy piece that celebrates native plants and regional geology. Abstracted forms of the Blackland Prairie emerge through references to native grasses, botanicals, and rock formations. Blades of bluestem, flowers, and cacti float atop layers of transparent color fields, enhanced with metallic paints that shimmer in the sunlight during the day and glow under overhead cafe lights at night.
