Born in Los Angeles in 1967, Kevin Daly grew up in San Juan Capistrano. He lived in Sacramento for 12 years, including a 4-year stint at Sacramento State University, where he earned a B.A. in computer science in 1989. He then left Sacramento to attend the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. Acquiring a M.D. in 1998, Dr. Daly moved three years later to San Diego, where he has been practicing emergency medicine ever since.
For vacations as a youngster, Daly went with his family to the Mammoth Lakes area. There, he developed a deep love of the mountains, spending summers hiking, backpacking, and fishing, and in the winter, skiing. After marriage and starting a family, he bought a place in Mammoth as a second home, which became a locus for his outdoor ventures.
When his two sons left for college, Daly took up painting as a hobby. It eventually grew into a consuming passion. He states: “I typically paint outdoor places I’ve visited. Often, I’ll create a scene from a photo I took, adding wildlife or changing or enhancing a part of it. I also paint other subjects, such as portraits, pets, and surreal scenes. I do most of my painting in my home studio.
“What I found so satisfying about art is the emotional journey I take when I’m painting. In the process of creating art, I find a peace and insight into the world and myself. My art has evolved from landscapes to art that says something about the world or life as I see it.
“Before each piece, I wait for inspiration. Sometimes it’s a patient from the ER; sometimes it occurs when meditating or while driving through the desert as the sun is rising. In those pieces, I try to take my feelings or vision and put them on canvas.
“Except for one art class in high school and another in college, I’m self-trained as an artist.
“I enjoy creating landscape paintings, figurative art, and, occasionally, surreal subjects. I also enjoy experimenting with different techniques or perspectives. Almost all my art is oil or acrylic on canvas. I’ve painted on and off most of my adult life as a personal avocation and only considered creating art for others in 2018.
“My goal is to continue painting after retiring from medicine. I hope my art will touch people, make them feel something, or think about things they haven’t given much thought to.”
Dr. Daly says that he is not yet a fly fisher, but it is something he plans to get involved with in the years ahead.
The painting shown here is of Skelton Lake above Mammoth Lakes.
Daly’s paintings can be viewed in galleries in Escondido and Mammoth Lakes and by visiting http://artbykevinmd.com/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ArtByKevinMD, and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/artbykevin-md/?hl=en.
