Meet Dave Tell | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dave Tell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dave, what principle do you value most?
Curiosity is the most important value to me. Without it, life wouldn’t be as fun. I recently ran into a dead body because I was chasing geckos. It might sound a little morbid, but it really gave me pause and helped me put many things in perspective. It also lead to some really meaningful conversations around the campfire. Curiosity makes me want to learn more, and the more I learn the dumber I get, and the dumber I get the bigger the world gets, and the bigger the world gets the more there is to explore. Curiosity leads to all sorts of exploration and serves me artistically as well. Creative curiosity leads me to experiment with art which leads to wonderful results that I never could have anticipated.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My art has been described as playful yet dark, creepy but wholesome, or even whimsically macabre. I love finding beauty in the darkness. I think the balance between playful and sorrowful touches people on an emotional level in a way that only art can. I also have 2 brothers who are creative as hell, so we’re always collaborating on something. I’m really excited about a comic book that’s almost done with 1 brother, and the 3 of us are in pre-production for a feature film that we’re making together. I’m also illustrating a series of children’s books with a colleague in California. Over the years I’ve found that if I like what I make, someone else usually will too, no matter how weird, dark, or esoteric it is. I’ve learned to only collaborate on projects that are meaningful to me. I had to do a lot of things that I thought I would love only to realize that I didn’t like doing them at all. I used to work 16 hours a day 6 days a week doing pre-production graphic design for movies. It was amazing! Until I learned that I was spending so much time working on someone else’s art that I was too burned out to work on my own art. Now my goal is to put energy into giving my ideas life. I want to bring people to worlds that they can’t get to without me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Old south pearl is great. Can’t go wrong with grabbing a burger at Park Burger, then hitting up Sweet Cow for 2 scoops on a waffle cone. Biscuit breakfast from Rise & Shine is one of my favorite go-to’s. They keep it colorful by featuring a different artist each month. Meow Wolf is amazing if you’re in the mood for a Disneyland on LSD experience. RiNo’s a cool place to walk around and get inspired by the ever evolving collection of murals. The art is so incredible and diverse that it makes the City a more vibrant place – who wouldn’t rather see a dope-ass picture than a blank-ass wall.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Jeff Kingston is the Executive Director and Equity Owner of Ability Specialists. I Have a brother in law with Downs Syndrome and met Jeff about 5 years ago. Jeff and I became fast friends and getting involved with his program has opened me up to a whole world of amazing people. I’ve never met a person more dedicated to people than Jeff Kingston. Ability Specialists is unlike any other community that I’ve ever been a part of. They use a unique collaborative approach that encourages adults with developmental disabilities to reach their highest potential while keeping them emotionally and physically safe. Their tagline is “Creating Social change through connection” and That’s exactly what they do. Jeff has created such a uniquely loving environment where people come first. Jeff is one of the good guys.

Website: https://www.davetell.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davetelldesign

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetell/

Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/DaveTellDesign