Interview with DaNeal

I have a set of questions that I came up with that are a little bit Krista Tippett, a little bit Danielle Krysa, and a lot bit my own curiosity. I think talking about our creative stories is a way to bind us together and encourage us to keep going on our own creative path. I’m excited to be asking these questions and to be sharing these creatives’ answers with you. This month’s interview is DaNeal Eberly.

Tell my readers a little bit about you.

I’m DaNeal Eberly and I live in Montgomery, Alabama. I spent 20 years of my life as an Air Force wife and have lived in California, Illinois, Texas, and Maryland. In 2016 I got divorced and came out as a lesbian.

My family is my wife of 2 years, Nona, and my children Jadan and Miriam. They are both grown with babies of their own now and live nearby. Being their mom is a great privilege. My wife’s son Tallon lives with us currently and we also have a tiny velociraptor in a dog’s body named Ruby. She is very good at keeping my life from getting too old and boring.

I work a day job at a Montessori Preschool and I love it there.  I love spending time with friends and grandkids. Swimming and floating are my way to take a breath, slow down and enjoy the moment.

What is your first memory of creativity?

I remember that my grandparents had lots of Southwest art up in their house. I grew up in Lubbock Texas as a Gen Xer. DeGrazia was a favorite artist of my grandfather’s. My grandfather  was a skilled draftsman and a jeweler for his hobby. Music and art were so much the fabric of my childhood. John Denver and the Carpenters and Willie Nelson and Neil Diamond all stand out in my mind. Anne Murray and Olivia Newton John also, I love music more than most people.

My Nana (great grandmother) and my Ma Grande (grandmother) were both knitters and crocheters and did quilting. I was so lucky to grow up in an era where my family cherished working with their hands. As a kid, I drew and colored a lot. I remember I had a little “series” of disco ladies that I drew a lot in Elementary School. I also enjoyed drawing animals.

What is your favorite creative supply and why can’t you live without it?

Charcoal…. It’s so delicious  looking, soft and bold, and so versatile. Stands alone and brilliantly assists in painting too.

What is a creative question you ask regularly?

I feel like the move or question I am always asking is how can I say the most with the least? It’s an uphill climb because that approach requires a confidence that I struggle often to find in myself.

I’m also always asking if these works are comforting and uplifting for real women in their real lives. Because I grew up in the invisible generation as the invisible gender. I hope my portrayal of women shows how much I (we) long to be acknowledged as our own entity and not just a commodity for others’ profit and control.

What does your creative practice show you over and over?

It shows me that no matter how hard I try to emulate someone else, that I am stuck being me. I feel like my art tells me about myself sometimes even prophetically. My art knew I was gay long before I figured it out.

This really resonated with me. Our art really does tell us about ourselves and it’s a way to connect with that inner self that’s sometimes really hard to access. -Misty

What gets you to start a new project?

Usually a new technique I stumbled upon. I get excited and then I try to replicate the way that technique worked in one piece and try to see how it will work in a different piece.

What is a book on creativity that you come back to often? Why?

I love many books about creativity. Art and Fear, Bird by Bird, My Name is Asher Lev, Walking on Water, and Big Magic are some of my faves.

How did we meet?

We met at Lowe Mill when I had an exhibit with the ALWCA and I very much enjoyed interacting with you when you were asking art questions on Facebook.

I bought one of your paintings at that exhibit! It is hanging in my bedroom with some of my art and some art from some other friends. It’s often the first thing I see when I wake up
in the mornings. And those facebook discussions are one of the few things I miss about facebook. -Misty

I love the use of color in your work! There’s so much vibrancy and energy. Talk a bit about your use of color, your favorites, and what emotions you are trying to evoke with them.

Color is like the melody of a song. You can put any image on paper or canvas, like you can write a song about anything. But color is the part you hum when you walk away, the wave the heart of the message floats out on. I think I instinctively choose colors based on my mood when I sit down to paint. My favorite colors are orange ( obnoxious orange is my favorite) Phtalo Blue and Phtalo Green also rock my world, And Neon pink is my Gotcha color. I’m also quite fond of Unbleached Titanium and Red Oxide and Naples Yellow.

To me, every color is useful and beautiful and deserves a chance to shine, When it comes to color, I keep coming back to music as color…it is so much like a beautiful song, It has high notes and low notes and the beautiful quiet and glue of a grayed hue that holds the whole thing together and makes you wanna sway and dance to it. 

How can people find you?

People can find me as @artbydaneal on Instagram and TikTok and just as DaNeal Eberly on Facebook.

DaNeal, thank you for sharing your art and your creative stories with us! I had so much fun reading your answers to my questions. And I know my readers will enjoy it too. (These photos belong to DaNeal Eberly. She graciously allowed me use them for this interview.)

If you want to know more about this series read the post What about these Interviews? Or find the whole series of interviews here. If you are non-binary or women-identifying artist and are interested in sharing your answers to these questions and be featured here on the blog, I’d love to talk to you about it!! Let’s connect via email.

---

If you’d like to keep up with what I’m working on, I’d love to have you as a newsletter subscriber. I include blog posts from here, cool things I find online, and pictures of my dogs. Sign up here.