In the summer of 1996, my girlfriend, now wife,  Dana and I were driving
through the canyon lands of Utah in a pickup truck outfitted with a camper top that served as a one- room hotel. We had left our home in north Georgia several days earlier, for what was part vacation and part escape. We had reached a point in our lives where our jobs in community mental health no longer fulfilled us. Dana was already taking pottery classes and seemed to have the making of a new career in art, but I was just beginning to consider other careers. The exhaustion from twelve-hour days of driving through the hottest parts of the country in a truck  whose air conditioner had bailed out back East opened a window in our minds through which new possibilities could enter.  I had talked for many years about wanting to open a bookstore or combination bookstore and gallery, but it had always seemed more like a dream than a possibility.

I made a plan over the next several days as we sped west, then east again to our home. Once back, I began to explore various possibilities, one of which seemed within reach.  The internet was just beginning to enter into a few people's lives, but already established bookdealers were selling books to one another and to serious collectors online. I began working with a local book dealer who taught me about the process.   I continued to work at my job at the community mental health center all the while thinking about making the move to full-time book dealer from mental health center manager and therapist. After a year of learning about books and the process,  I set up a station at home in what had been Dana's pottery studio (she had since left her job and rented studio space in town) and began putting books I bought at yard sales and auctions on-line.

I worked as an on-line used and rare book seller for several years, but this job, while offering me the opportunity to work for myself, did not satisfy my artistic interests, which were now being fueled by Dana's art career and many of our friends who were making their living as artists. I had experimented with photography and painting at times, but not seriously.  I began reading, exploring the new technological developments in photography, and taking photographs everywhere I went. 
I listed the book business for sale in late 2001 and sold it a year later. My art career was born.

Dana and I are currently traveling to art shows in several states, primarily on the East Coast throughout the year. Dana's work can be seen at her website:
http://www.barkinghorse.com

   Resume
     Selected Exhibitions       
     Collections
     Bibliography
     Awards and Honors

 

Selected Exhibitions

2008

Passages Exhibition, Create Here, Main Street,
    Chattanooga, Tn
2007

San Diego Art Institute, 49th Annual Award Exhibit

Corporate Lending Program, AVA, Chattanooga, TN

 5th Annual Art for Healing Gala : Silent Auction and
      Lecture Series, Memorial Hospital, Chattanooga, TN

 ART in the Workplace Exhibit, Association for Visual
      Arts, Chattanooga, TN

2006

 Muesum of Art, Mobile, Alabama. Curated by Kathleen
       A. Edwards, Chief Curator of European and 
       American Art, University of Iowa

How We Live : Signs, Scenes, Dogs and Dwellings, Two
       person show at Urban Art Works, Alpharetta, GA

Texas National Juried Competition, Stephen F. Austin
       University, Nacogdoches, TX

Corporate Lending Program, Association for Visual Arts,
       Chattanooga, TN

2005

 Featured Artist, ArtQuest, Jesuit Museum, Dallas, TX

One World, Many Visions national juried exhibit,
        Northbrook, IL

Group Show, Urban Art Works, Alpharetta, GA

 2004

Rhythm of Culture, National Juried Exhibition, Museum
       of Anthropology, University of California-Chico

Looking for America National Juried Exhibit, Capitol Arts
      Network, Washington School of Photography,
      Washington, DC

 2003

Spectrum Juried Exhibit, Hunter Museum, Chattanooga,
       TN

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In the permanent collections of:

 - Austin Office of Tourism, Austin, Tx
- Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz
              Law Firm, Birmingham, Al
 - Charles Baxter, Author
               ( Feast of Love, Saul and Patsy)
- Michael Morris, Author
               (Slow Way Home, A Place Called Wiregrass)
- Mayor's Office, City of Hoover, Alabama
- Brian Noyes, Art Director, Smithsonian Magazine
- Reverend Chico's Restaurant, Bowling Green, OH
- William Silverstein, Art Collector, Highland Park, IL
- Janet "Tennessee Tramp" Williams, Comedienne
- Winnow Press, Austin, Tx
- Zaxby's Restaurants

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Bibliography

 Memorial Healthcare System Foundation Art for Healing
        Gala brochure, 2008

Deborah Gilmore, Everything Old is New Again,
         In the City magazine,  2007

Liz Ellaby, Artist Couples, Birmingham News,  2007

Southeastern Juried Exhibition Catalog, Mobile Museum
         of Art, 2006

Jennifer Brett, Works Full of Life and Color,
        Atlanta-Journal Constitution,  2006

Texas National Catalog, Stephen F. Austin University,
        Nacogdoches, TX, 2006

Straight Up Magazine, Belleville, IL, 2006

Morgan, Judy, Texas National 2006 :  Annual Event
         Focuses the Art World's Eyes on East
         Texas,  The  Daily  Sentinel, Nacogdoches, TX,
         2006

Pictures in My Mind, Atlanta-Journal Constitution,  2005

McClure, Danielle, Noteworthy Exhibits, Black and   
        White City Paper, 2005

 Ann Nichols, On the Road : Signs of Art Along 
        America's Highways, Chattanooga-Times Free
        Press,  Aug. 2004

Southeastern Juried Exhibit Catalog, Mobile Museum
        of Art, 2004

Edwards, Art, Ghost Notes : A Novel, book cover, 2008

Edwards, Art, Songs From Memory, CD cover,
        2008          

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Awards and Honors
 2008

Reinvitation award, Art Fair on the Square, Madison

Finalist Award (reinvitation) Uptown Art Fair,
        Minneapolis

2007

Honors Award, Main St. Art Fair, Ft. Worth, TX

First Place, St Louis Art Fair, Clayton, Mo. Juried by
        Rene Yanez, Curator Traveling  Exhibitions for San
        Francisco Museum of Art & faculty New College of
        California in San Francisco Museum of Art;
        Stan Strembicki, Professor of Art/senior faculty in
        photography & digital imaging program, 
         Washington University, St Louis, MO and
        Gretchen Keyworth, Executive Director and
        Chief Curator of the Fuller Craft Museum in
        Brockton, Mass

Honorable Mention, Laumeier Art Fair, St Louis, MO
        Juried by Cherie Fister, Associate Professor and
        Graphic Design Program Director at Maryville
        University; and Robin Hirsch, Associate Director
        of Art St Louis

Award of Distinction, Great Gulf Art Fair, Pensacola, FL
        Juried by Thomas Mann, nationally know jeweler,
        and Jane Shea, Painter

Sponsor's Choice, Great Gulf Coast Art Festival,
        Pensacola, FL

Best in Photography, Fairhope Art Festival,
        Fairhope, Al.

 2006
Second Place, Texas National Juried Competition,
         Stephen F. Austin University, Nacogdoches, TX
         Juried by Paul Brach, Dean of the School of Art at
         CalArts and contributor to Art in America. 

Best of Show in Photography, Uptown Art Fair,
         Minneapolis, MN

Judge's Cash Award, Bluff Park Art Fair, Birmingham,  
         AL

Sponsor's Choice, Great Gulf Coast Art Festival,
        Pensacola, FL

Re-Invitation Award, Art on the Square, Madison, WI 

2005 
Award of Excellence (Best in Photography), Chrysler
         Art, Beats, Eats Art Festival, Pontiac, MI

Distinguished Artist Award, Geneva Fine Art Fair,
          Geneva, IL

2004
Award of Distinction, Magic City Art Festival,
          Birmingham,  AL,  juried by
          Dr Jerry Cullum, Editor of Art Papers

Second Place, Looking for America National Juried
           Exhibit, Capitol Arts Network-Washington
           School of Photography, Washington, DC

 Merit Award, West End Art Festival, Lagrange, IL

2003 
Best in Show, Oh Originals, St Louis, Mo

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For more information on current and future exhibitions, see the Show Schedule section of the site.

 
 
All photos and images are the copyrighted property of Daryl Thetford Photography and can not be copied or re-used in any manner without the express written permission of the artist.