Art has been a part of my life since childhood and from the beginning I wanted to create portraits. My education and career took me away from art and into the applied sciences, which offered another means of creative expression. Eventually I found myself living in Minneapolis, MN, where the arts are an integral part of the community. I discovered the many local cooperative art centers and several atelier training studios. For six years I studied drawing, painting and portraiture in the part-time program at The Atelier with the aim of developing skills in the production of realistic drawings and paintings.

As an artist, my goal is to create paintings that are compelling - that somehow touch the viewer in a personal way. I strive to create paintings that cause you to feel the wind in your hair, to hear the trickle of water in a passing stream, to smell the loamy earth on a warm November day, to taste the warm salt spray in an ocean bay...... Above all, I want to create images that have longevity; the kind of paintings that are never tiresome. Images that fit like a comfortable, well-worn pair of shoes.

In order to devote time to painting and living, I abandoned my life as a research scientist with Pillsbury in Minneapolis and moved to a tiny island in the southern Caribbean; a place where the pace is slower and life simpler. For two years I lived on the island of Bonaire working as a dive guide, SCUBA instructor and naturalist spending my free time creating paintings based upon my every-day life. Due to unforseen circumstances, I returned to the the U.S and am now living near the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado.

I was born and raised in Battle Creek, Michigan. Spending my summers in the artistic community of Saugatuck on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan provided constant inspiration throughout my youth as I wandered through streets lined with art galleries and anxiously awaited the annual summer art fair. I have dabbled with many art forms, but in the end my true love is capturing the human form in paint.

Beach Treasures copyright 2002 Dara Walter
Amy copyright © 2000 Dara Walter
Something's Amiss Copyright 2003 Dara Walter
African Violets Copyright (c) 2004 Dara Walter
All images within this website are Copyright © 2002-2005 Dara Walter – All Rights Reserved. 
No reproductions or use of the images may be made without express permission of the artist.