Dan Terry

Serves Gatesville, TX

35244

Hired 97 times

2 employees

20 years in business

Free on-site estimate

4.9

This pro accepts payments via Cash, Check, Credit card, PayPal, Venmo, and Zelle.

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Credentials

Background Check

Daniel Terry
Completed on 2/25/2021

Introduction

Hi. I am and have been for a lifetime an artist. Continue reading below to know what that means for you considering hiring one. Unlike many, I am NOT the stereotypical 'poor starving artist'. I'm beyond that and why my minimum fee for any commission is in the $2000 range. Regardless, I stay very busy with waiting lists to get on the calendar weeks to months in advance. Here's why... When one thinks about what an artist is most think that it's someone who can draw or paint a picture. But a true artist is much more than that. Learning to draw or paint is nothing more than learning the alphabet and basic grammar of creative problem solving. It's the practice of training one's eyes, hands and brain to see and express the world in ways unperceived by non artists. It's cardio toward a more muscular observational perception. Eye training, or ear training if musical art. In my case, I've supplemented that developed skill with studies in psychology, marketing, mass communications (professor for a few decades), art history, and management. That combination of an artist's 'eye' and strategic knowledge attracted the attention and commissions for creative solutions for an amazing array of clients that include such companies as Apple, Microsoft, the Alamo, the Witte and San Antonio Museum of Art, Dell, Hilton, Four Seasons Resorts, the Indonesian Consulate General, Chipotle, the Arboretum, Voodoo Brewpubs, Hooters, Tarka Indian Kitchen, Thermon International, Rivercity Productions, Steck Vaughn Publishing, Taz and South Austin Films, and many more. With a background in Theater and Film Arts, Printing Technologies and construction management, commissions for murals are not limited to paint on a wall. I transform spaces into dramatic new environments. I'm known for creating unique custom murals that evoke a mood or memory or experience. Spaces that serve as therapy, or bring about meditative states of mind. Spaces that create emotional connections in memory for intentional messages for onlookers. I get to 'create space'. from adding decor to a wall to enveloping guests in a whole new place or time or mood by combining light and color and form and texture and sound using all the tools available to painters, builders, sculptors, engineers, programmers, architects and designers. For murals I have large format printers in studio for exterior or interior permanent installations, banners and signage. A lot I do alone. Yet I've trained and assembled a ready team of experienced pros to accommodate larger projects. With experience designing and overseeing construction on film and stage sets as well as museum exhibitions, I can if necessary transform a warehouse into a palace or another planet. Each project brings it's own purpose and then it's fun to figure what can be done that changes the space and experience for the viewer. With adequate budgets, anything becomes possible. Even what you may not yet be able to imagine. You want a master on your team. Let's talk.

Q&A

What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?

Tough to answer directly simply because every project is different. There are many variables beyond size that affect the bid. However you want and deserve an answer. So I'll offer the range from my minimum of $2000 up to tens of thousands on large projects involving lighting, audio, sculptural or architectural elements or requirements for heavy equipment such as boom lifts or cranes. Generally speaking though more typical painted only murals fall in the range of $20-35 sq foot. Original painted commissions and portraits range from $2000-$5000.

What is your typical process for working with a new customer?

It all starts with a conversation. Every customer has an idea of what they want. The first part of my job is helping them refine and explain it in such a way as I can conceptualize and visualize it well enough to begin to put the idea into visual form. I ask a lot of questions to understand what visual style fits their idea or purpose. Often, I'll want to visit the location of the work, get a sense of how the work fits into the existing architecture and the condition of the surface on which the mural will go. We'll talk about the different ways creation of the mural can occur, depending on factors including whether painting directly on the wall is practical or too disruptive (as in an existing open for business commercial enterprise). Those conversations lead to a decision on method, schedule, adjustments to bid pricing, and installation. Once we're on the same page on everything, and an agreement is reached then I begin preparing detailed design proposal drawings/renders showing the potential future work incorporated into photos of the site location taken during the first visit. Feedback results in refining the art concept sketches shared via email or text until the design is approved when I begin scaling it up to full size in the method agreed upon. That might be paint on the wall itself or on canvas or vinyl done in my studio for later installation on site or printed from high resolution digital painting onto vinyl or wall paper to be installed. But it all comes down to having discussions face to face or via phone. Text messages are not conversations and inefficient as a means to communicate all the information needed for any project. Text may only be used to open lines of communication.

What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?

BAAS interdisciplinary management with an art direction focus - SWTSU 1984, MA photojournalism UT Austin 1990, ABD PhD Advertising Psychology UT Austin. Studied painting under Simon Michael, Texas Impressionist. Years as Exhibit Department Designer for the San Antonio Museum Association.

How did you get started doing this type of work?

Looooong story. Been evolving for a lifetime when still in high school painting and building stage sets. That evolved into designing murals and exhibitions working and in with museums, and television and film productions. The museum work kicked off doing installations of art for commercial clientele, and my mural, painting and lighting expertise is increasingly in high demand by restaurants, bars, hotels and interior designers around the state.

What types of customers have you worked with?

Architects, Museums, Hotels, Tech companies, Interior Designers, Business owners, Restaurants, Hotels, Fortune 500 Companies. A few: Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Hilton, the Government of Indonesia Consulate, Four Seasons, Thermon International, the Alamo, the Arboretum, Chipotle, Voodoo Brew Pubs, Chipotle, Hooters, Centaur Technology, Atlassian, Black's BBQ, Tarka Indian Kitchen, Bamboo Lounge, way too many to list here. Scores and scores of private collectors.

What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?

regarding paintings. Do you know most artists cannot tell you what "latex" (the most common paint used for murals) is even made of? Or why it shouldn't be used for finer art like murals? Painting murals like houses requires a lot of paint. It takes two gallons for full (two coat) coverage for an area of 10' x 40'. An artistic painted mural will have as many as seven layers (or coats) of paint or glazes covering much of the painting. At about $30 per gallon for house paint type latex (compared to $100 a gallon for archival grade pure acrylic with color pigment and $640 for a gallon of artist's paints in tubes), most mural bids are based on using latex paint for most of it. I refuse to compromise when it comes to the materials that go into any mural project. I stand behind my work and if for any reason there is a failure I make it right, regardless of the inconvenience and expense. Doing it right and using the best materials available to me is important and using the wrong paint to be able to win a low ball bid is something I would never even consider. SO if you're considering any mural job, ask questions. Do you use latex paints is one good one. Or do you know what the difference is between exterior latex paints and 100% acrylic and why it matters is another good one. Those questions alone will tell you whether you're dealing with a professional artist or an artistically talented huckster willing to use inferior materials to win a low ball bid.

What questions should customers think through before talking to professionals about their project?

The most important: What is the purpose or function that you want the mural to accomplish in your viewers. Your viewers are your market and they determine what they are most likely to respond to. The second big thing is visual style. Do you want hip graffiti, post modern minimalism, or photographic realism. One style takes a few hours, the same size work in classical realism can take weeks or even months, and there's everything in between. I'm pretty fast and can do a fairly detailed realism mural of 100 sq feet in a couple of days (after the design is approved), but to move to true trompe l'oei or photorealism can add another week working each area to finer levels of detail and precision. So as a customer you have to know what it is you want. A trompe l'oei garden scene as you might see in a four star restaurant that feels like you are really looking out into a garden cannot be created in a few days. Here on thumbtack, the tendency for those wanting bids is to post the subject of the mural, and the issue of style is why that's less than helpful. I've done simple design murals in a day. I've done others that took six months. Tell us what you envision and we can better help bring that vision to life if your vision is realistic with what it sometimes takes in terms of both scale and content. Often the difference between a work of stunning impact and mastery and one that merely adds some color to an environment is the amount of time the artist is given to execute it. Generally speaking 'better' (more refined and completed) work takes much more time than simple shapes and decorative arts and bids will take each artist's guestimate of the time involved into consideration. Know what you want and do enough due diligence to know whether your expectations are realistic with your budget.