This story originally appeared in the April 21 issue of the Adair County Community Voice. For your own subscription, call 270-384-9454.
David Waltz has always been a creative person, always thinking about new and better ways to do things. When he was younger, unfortunately, those ideas would some- times get him in trouble in school.
Waltz has never lost his creative ideas over the years, and now the Adair County native gets paid for those ideas. He is one of the predominant artists in the region.
“My mother liked to paint on windows, so I probably picked it up from her,” Waltz said. “I remember some of the experiences I had with art as a child. I think my love of art stems out of emotion, communication, and wanting to say something.”
“Back in those days they didn’t analyze kids to death, and I wasn’t the greatest student, but I really did like art. Some teachers recognized that, and they told my family. In my life, that just shows how the influence of a teacher is so import- ant.”
Before coming to Adair County, Waltz sharpened his skills as a teacher in the Campbell County School District. He later did sales for a period of time, and taught art again later for 29 years at schools in Maryland.
Waltz, who considers himself an abstract expressionist, works in several different modes, including paint, ceramics and wood. However, he said he is open to exploring new ideas to please customers.
“I am somewhat color blind, so I get criticized for some of my work,” he said. “But I don’t real- ly care about that. I just have fun with it.”
Children may be the best artists, Waltz said, because they are uninhibited and not afraid to take a chance. He said art can be taught to anyone, but to make it a profession, you have to “click” with the work. He said he would rather work with someone interested in working hard, than with someone that is talented but has no work ethic.
“I remember the first ceramic piece I ever did, a bowl and a vase, which now I am ashamed of,” laughed Waltz. “There has been a big evolution and I have gone through a lot of different style changes.”
“But you know it is a journey, and you identify who you think you are through your work. I want to keep going on the journey. I am thinking I may need to focus on one thing and I am thinking about doing some work about the Ukrainian refugees.”
He often creates pieces on coalminers, mother-child images, and homeless people.
“I work from my mind’s eye a lot. I don’t really need an image of what I am doing,” Waltz said. “I can pull a lot of images from my memory bank. Once I come up with an idea, I think about it a while, let it incubate.”
“I have thrown away many pieces, probably from my abstract days. It all depends on how I feel about the piece. I usually like just about everything I do, if not out, it goes.”
Many of Waltz’s art pieces have been sold around the state and country. Some pieces have been bought by col- lectors in overseas locations.
“I enjoy getting recognition for my work, everyone does. But that is not utmost in my mind,” Waltz said. “I would be really frustrated if I couldn’t do my art. I would miss it, but I would miss more not being able to gift my art to others.”
By Scott Wilson
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