We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniel Jenkins a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Daniel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?
The most unexpected problem I faced in my creative journey was also my biggest motivation for change. Around 2017 I had a brain tumor which was growing and putting pressure on my optic nerves and causing me to go blind. I had already finished art school but I was not taking my creative journey that seriously around that time, mainly due to how difficult the artistic path is. The damage from the tumor made me 50% blind in both eyes and if I didn’t get it removed in a few months I would have been 100% blind. They weren’t even sure if my optic nerves would recover even once the tumor was removed. Thankfully the surgery was a success and my optic nerves healed and I got all my sight back, This whole experience motivated me to go all in with my art. I took it as a sign from God to not neglect my gifts, and if someone has a passion for something it’s almost like their duty to see it through. This motivated me to do one drawing a day for a full year. I did this all of 2019 and at first they were pen and ink drawings but after doing one drawing a day for so long I got bored and switched over to a Sharpie just as a way to challenge myself with my daily drawings. With a Sharpie you can’t show value, you can’t shade, it’s just one hard black line so it forced me to experiment and come up with a new way to still draw portraits and the human figure.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Daniel Jenkins and I’m a visual artist based out of Jersey City, NJ. I mainly focus on semi-abstract portraits. I like to bring together polar opposites so my work is minimal but also expressive, it’s figurative but also abstract. I went to duCret School Of Art and learned a lot of the fundamentals and really gravitated toward the human figure as my main subject. Afterwards I began to become influenced by the abstract expressionists – mainly Mark Rothko, but also Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. I really liked the ideas behind their approach to art and wanted to merge it with the stuff I learned in school and artists I was influenced by earlier like Caravaggio. As of now I am most proud of having my work be shown internationally. In late 2024 I had my first work shown overseas in Graz Austria. It’s a nice feeling knowing the work is appreciated in many different places.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect is honestly just doing what you love. I think our intuition knows more than our intellect, so it’s important to follow that inner voice. Sometimes the path won’t make sense to anybody but you but in following it you will always have a certain sense of peace that you can’t get anywhere else.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I didn’t read these books specifically for art but the information can be applied to an artist as well. ‘Purple Cow’ by Seth Godin is good for understanding the importance of standing out, If you can be creative in areas that are stagnant whatever you’re doing will be talked about. From running an Instagram page to creating an installation or Gallery show the more unique and original it is the more it will spread by word of mouth. Also ‘Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind” by Al Ries and Jack Trout, it shows you need to think from other people’s perspectives and figure out the best way to present an idea. Then also books on mindset in general like “As A Man Thinketh” by James Allen and “Outwitting The Devil” by Napoleon Hill, in the arts its very easy to slip into a negative mindset so it’s good to be aware of your thoughts and also aware of the power of your thoughts.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://DanielJenkinsArt.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/DanStuckie
- Twitter: DanStuckieMM
