Thanks for visiting and welcome to VAYOR Gallery,

At the age of nine I did my first oil painting, and within the year I had a piece of my art featured in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York.

But, like most young artists, my creative was stifled by an apocryphal idea that one can not make an adequate living by being an artist.

So my formative years were spent in search for a new identity.  I did exactly as I was conditioned and I pursued jobs that would be considered less risky.   However,  my creative could not be completely suppressed.  After doing some deep reflection,  It occured to me that I never caged the creative in me...I just had it tamed.

I never contemplated working at a Country Club, However, I spent almost eight years at an ARnold Palmer Golf Managed Course in New York.  There, I put my creative to work planning weddings, golf tournaments, member functions, and many other events.  I took every opportunity I could to be creative which was often assembling elaborate hors d'oeuvres displays, designing tablescapes, decorating for the Holidays, and taking any opportunity to bring my imagination to life through food and beverage.

Then, in 2004 I moved to Palm Springs, California where I currently reside.  Three days after arriving in Palm Springs, I was sitting in Real Estate School.  A couple months later I was on the trajectory of a great career.   Although, not an art career, my creative was still very much alive finding creative solutions for transactional challenges, designing creative marketing pieces to promote my services as well as sell my client's property, and helping buyers form a vision of what a house could look like with proper improvements.  

In 2018 I could no longer keep my creative contained on a leash.  Although I intermittently painted throughout the years, I began working on a painting that was intended for clients who were looking to possibly buy a house at the beach.  Although I never parted with originals, the potential $90,000 commission on the sale eliminated any hesitation or discomfort in presenting the buyers with an original oil painting at the closing.  

But something happened while I was working on the painting.  For the first time ever, I fell in love with painting.  Then I got to thinking (and feeling) that I must do something with the talent that God gave me.  I had the epiphany that I needed to make some drastic changes in my life and bring my artist out of the shadows and into center stage.

Since then, painting has been my main focus.  I am so incredibly excited and happy to have made the dramatic, yet compelling, decision that I did to pursue the career that I was destined to pursue as an artist.  

Nothing in life worth doing is easy and I certainly have had my share of challenges to overcome.  I am thankful for all that I have learned from those challenges and how essential they were in shaping the person I am today.

I have a policy of honesty...perhaps too honest at times.  Therefore, you will have the opportunity to get well acquainted with me.  I plan to share bits of my journey which may provide insight, entertainment, and perhaps even healing or inspiration for some. 

 The Columbian Artist and Sculptor, Fernando Botero said, "When you start a painting, it is somewhat outside you.  At the conclusion, you seem to move inside the painting." Looking forward to seeing you there!

With Abundant Gratitude,

Daniel Riggs

My art business has been designated as a "Trusted Art Seller" with The Art Storefronts Organization, which means you can shop with confidence, and know that I stand behind the quality and value of my products.