Danny was born in Saint Louis Missouri, introduced to music and art at a young age, and encouraged to explore his creativity early on in life. Danny's Great Grandfather Eddie Prinz was a portrait painter and saxophonist through the great depression, his Grandmother Johanna Prinz was a mixed media artist, and his grandfather Danny Schweiss was a landscape painter. And so, Danny claims to come from a long line of creative individuals. He met my wife Elise in 2005 and they set out to start a life together, she has been an inspiration for him ever since. While Danny held on to his passion for making art through young adulthood, he also worked on making deep connections with people throughout life. It is in these connections with other people that Danny explores art and music as an adult.

"Building lasting and important connections with people is my life’s work and I express that through my painting." Danny Bess

Artist Statement

I explore color, movement, velocity, and time within my paintings. Looking for color relationships and impactful brush marks to imply speed and capture an energetic art making process. As if my paintbrush is keeping tempo and my color selections are musical notes. I believe that Music and Art are two sides of a creative coin, one side stimulating our sight, while the other side of the coin satisfies our ears. The subject of my paintings are friends, family members, and inspiring artists; they represent the grand staff of a musical score. They are the foundation for my paintbrush to dance across the page. In many ways music can be freer than an image, it’s not bound by space, a canvas, or a computer monitor. The goal is to emulate music visually, I never reject any mark I make while painting; I accept them all. Through this acceptance, I hope to find something that is representational in the portrait I paint, but executed with the
non-representational freedom of music.