Traditional Painter Dan Coble in the News!

The following press release appeared in KPC Media Group Inc. publications on August 11, 2015 regarding noted traditional painter and American Craftsmen Show artist Dan Coble.

Steuben artisan listed in nationwide directory

ANGOLA — Local artisan Dan Coble won the highest award in this year’s Directory of Traditional American Crafts, and the work is showcased in the August issue of
Early American Life magazine.

Coble has been creating traditional paint decoration and paint finishes for more than 40 years. He always had a love of early painted furniture, admiring the history and visual richness of grain-painted, stenciled, and freehand-painted pieces he saw in museums, shops, and homes. After graduating with a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting, he taught and had a retail business doing custom framing and selling antiques for 10 years.

He closed his retail business in 1981 and focused on creating his own work — interpretations of traditional painted pieces he admired. His “canvases” for painted finishes consist of antique, fine vintage, and new wood furniture and accessories. He also produces paintings.

Coble lives with his wife, Marlene, who is also an artist, in rural Steuben County.

He is considered among the top in his field, according to a panel of national experts convened by Early American Life. The experts — curators from such prestigious institutions as the National Trust, Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, National Heritage Museum, Winterthur Museum, Old Sturbridge Village, Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, Saco Museum and Southern Highland Craft Guild, as well as antiques dealers, independent scholars, and professional instructors — selected the top craftspeople working with traditional tools and techniques for the magazine’s 30th annual Directory of Traditional American Crafts. The artisan’s handcraft showed mastery of the art form, heritage techniques, and workmanship, according to the judges.

The Directory of Traditional American Crafts is a special listing that appears in the August issue of Early American Life, a national magazine focusing on architecture, decorative arts, period style, and social history from colonial times through the mid-19th century. The directory has been used for nearly three decades by curators at living history museums, owners of traditional homes, and motion picture producers to find artisans to make period-appropriate furnishings and accessories for displays, collections and use.

“The judges look for authentic design and workmanship, whether the piece is a faithful reproduction or the artisan’s interpretation of period style,” said Tess Rosch, publisher of Early American Life. “Scholarship, as well as use of period tools and techniques, is particularly valued in this competition.”

One goal of the directory is to help preserve traditional handcrafts, part of our culture that is rapidly being lost in the digital age. Many of these skills were passed down from master to apprentice for hundreds of years, but now few new people choose to learn and master them. “If our traditional arts are lost, we have forgotten a part of who we are as Americans,” Rosch said.

The August issue of Early American Life is on newsstands and lists all of the artisans selected for the directory as well as contact information for those wanting to own their work. The directory layout features lush color photos of many of these artworks photographed at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in Delaware.

“The directory is a source for collectors and historic museums eager to own fine, handcrafted, period-accurate objects and also a means of supporting those who perpetuate the art forms that are such an important part of our nation’s heritage,” Rosch said. To learn more about Early American Life, for subscription information, or to purchase a copy, visit www.EarlyAmericanLife.com

Early American Life is a bimonthly magazine with a circulation of 90,000. The magazine was founded in 1970 and is owned by Firelands Media Group LLC, Shaker Heights, Ohio.