FLORIDA LANDSCAPE ART SINCE 2007
mclaughlingallery.com
Vero Beach, FL 32962
mclaughl
When Dan was in grade school, his mom and dad dipped into the family cookie jar and put out 600-bucks - a whopping sum at the time – for their son to study at the Art Instruction Schools of Minnesota.
University classes in drawing, painting and the fine arts followed, after which Dan ended up packing away his paints and brushes – for more than three decades.
Not until the summer of 2007, following the death of his dad, did Dan dust off his old travel box and buy some fresh oils, and pick up a new plein air French easel.
He began by studying plein air oil painting under Frederick Markham of The Art League in Alexandria, Virginia; and, within a year, was recognized in a competition open to artists nationwide who used Lukas oil colors, a competition sponsored by The World of Art.
Later in 2007, Dan started the McLaughlin Gallery online. Since then, more than 150 McLaughlin paintings have sold.
"Art." he believes, "is about convincing people - via the use of composition, color, contrast, temperature, and multiple vanishing points - they see a perception of some certain, familiar reality."
Many of Dan's Florida landscapes were displayed in a U.S. Senate office in Washington, D.C., while others were sold at various charity auctions, including that of former CNN talk-show host Larry King.
In 2014, a private art gallery in Jacksonville, Florida - STELLERS GALLERY of San Marco - contacted Dan after seeing his work on Facebook, and began representing him on select pieces.
Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Dan was raised in the Tampa Bay area in West Central Florida.
He worked more than 20 years in the field of political communications, after spending nearly two decades with daily newspapers in various posts from reporter to editor to newsroom manager.
He also has been an adjunct university instructor of politics and the media at James Madison University in Virginia, and at the graduate level at the University of Florida in Gainesville
During his career in political communications and even since, he's traveled throughout Europe, China, Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America and the Caribbean, including to Cuba - not to mention spending some time once with the real cowboys who still ride the Florida Cracker Trail every year.
It is, after all, the old Florida landscape that has shaped Dan's artistic view and his contemporary impressionist style.
He's been inspired and influenced by a handful of Florida artists whose work is displayed on this site.
These painters include the late A.E. "Bean" Backus, of Fort Pierce, along with other Florida masters and Indian River School painters such as Don D. Brown, James F. Hutchinson, Therese B. Knowles and Sam Vinikoff.
Dan ... in the news
Monday, November 30, 2015
Dan McLaughlin, longtime spokesman for Sen. Bill Nelson, to retire
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sen. Bill Nelson's longtime spokesman, Dan McLaughlin, will retire at the end of the year.
"Dan McLaughlin, our Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director, is retiring at year's end after more than 21 years of outstanding public service, the last 15 of which were in the U.S. Senate. He has decided to pursue opportunities in the private sector, including his passion for oil painting and Florida art. Dan has been my confidant and friend all these years, and is recognized in both journalism and communications as one of the best."
... McLaughlin was a formidable reporter for the Tampa Tribune before entering politics. Nicknamed "Mad Dog," he was not shy about telling reporters where he thought a story was to be found -- or if he thought a story was bull.
Thank you for your interest in our gallery.
Est. 2007. Web Hosting by Aabaco
Logo design: Limelight Signs&Graphics, Tallahassee, FL
mclaughlingallery.com
Vero Beach, FL 32962
mclaughl