Daniel Ortega

About the Artist

I was invited to attend the Otis Parsons Art Institute in Los Angeles, California summer scholarship programs in 1967 & 1968. Being exposed to various types of professional art media at Otis, the life drawing classes and recycling art projects inspired me to pursue fine art as a major at Ben Franklin High School, Highland Park, California. College curriculum included graphic design, architecture, technical illustration, electronic drafting, ceramics and photography.  A drafting position with a computer power supply company in Orange County, California started my drafting career. A Senior Drafting position for a utility planning company in San Clemente, California was offered to me. I relocated to Phoenix, Arizona and worked for the Salt River Project & Arizona Public Service engineering departments as a professional draftsman. I worked in the drafting field until manual drafting became obsolete and was replaced by computer-aided drafting. I changed careers in 1998 and became a Thai massage therapist until I retired. 

Currently I am creating hand sculpted bas-relief designs from byproduct plant fiber powders. Hand sculpted on stretched wood framed canvas and dried on a flat surface, this medium has the appearance of carved stone. A collage of found objects are installed into the soft medium after sculpting with various handheld tools. Natural objects are latex masked, and I paint with acrylic paints or leave it plant, mineral or spiced colored. Work is sealed with an acrylic clear coat before unmasking. I add textile paint and colored sand around installed objects and in some recessed areas. My mixed medium is composed of non-endangered sustainable plants, wood, flowers, earth, minerals, bones and stone. My message is conservation of natural resources and using sustainable natural objects and byproducts from various sources.