Local artist eager to share the spirit of art at Con Amici Craft Bar

Sep 13, 2023

Ray McDaniel, a Baraboo artist, will have his work shown at Con Amici Craft Bar. An artist reception will be held on Thursday, June 8, at 6 p.m.

Ray McDaniel had to pull over. He was driving through Sauk County to his home in Baraboo and he had to stop — he just had to — because the clouds above him were just too beautiful for him not to stop. Their beauty demanded his attention.

The local artist sometimes thinks it's nearly too much, all of what one can see on one's journey.

"It's astounding," he said, about what creating art does for him. "It's a treasure hunt. It's a journey. It's a spiritual path for me. It's an ancient game. Art reveals itself to me. It reveals what my heart is."

Baraboo artist Ray McDaniel finds art and sculpture most everywhere, including just looking up at the sky.

McDaniel is revealing himself this month at Baraboo Con Amici's Craft Bar, located at 126 3rd St. His artwork will be on display there. An artist reception will be held Thursday, June 8, starting at 6 p.m.

The art exhibit is entitled "Opening Doors." McDaniel recently stated online, "Finding treasure is a pretty good description of the purpose my art wants to serve. Food for our souls, our hearts, and our imagination is what the treasure looks like." He continued. "I've been madly digging for it for decades," said the 66-year-old.

When he was growing up outside of Boston, it was in high school when he decided to be an artist. Perhaps it wasn't a decision at all. "I just had to be," he said. It wasn't so much as a desire as it was an eternal spark. It embodied him.

Inspired by nature - the woods of Massachusetts; the sky above — and sculpture — both the human-made and found in the natural world — pulled at him to create art. He's been insatiably curious and always filled with wonder ever since.

It's hard to make a living as an artist though. He worked nine-to-five jobs. He lived a life of paying bills, and being in stuck in commutes, and mowing lawns, and the regular hum along of life; all the while finding art most everywhere, and finding himself creating it as often as he could.

He moved to Wisconsin in 1992 and lived in Wisconsin Dells for some time. He moved to Baraboo two-plus years ago.

He was fortunate, living in Wisconsin Dells, to find work as an artist. He's currently a sculptor for Kalahari Resorts. Not only does he create work for the Wisconsin Dells location, but for all Kalahari Resorts. They are also located in Sandusky, Ohio, Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania, and Round Rock, Texas. The Round Rock location is the second largest indoor water park in the United States.

"My art runs the gamut," McDaniel said, "from the sublime to the ridiculous."

For Baraboo resident Ray McDaniel, an artist who works for Kalahari Resorts, creating art is a spiritual path.

His recent art has leaned heavily toward sublime.

"I'm always inspired to spark peoples' imaginations," he said. "I want people to take their own spiritual path. I want to show them the vastness within them."

Artists gathered at the Portage Center for the Arts on March 3 for some friendly yet messy competition.

In its three twenty-minute painting rounds, Art Attack was able to raise around $1,000 for the Portage Community School District's arts programs. The funds came from audience members, who purchased votes for their favorite painting as well as the auction of finished pieces.

The event was run by Brett Klawitter, a Baraboo-based artist and Blank Canvas Arts owner. Klawitter hopes to host more Art Attack events in the region, this being his second.

With the COVID pandemic, coupled with the local "Be Kind" campaign, he has begun to turn his attention to hearts. His "One Heart Gallery" pieces are portable murals and art flags designed as an opportunity, as his website states, "to reach inside your home where you hold the love and kindness that you want for your family and yourself."

McDaniel is honored to share that love at Con Amici.

"There's an ineffable beautiful love everywhere," he said.

Sometimes that's at a craft bar in downtown Baraboo. Sometimes it's in the cloudy skies above that one just has to stop for and awe at it in wonder.

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