Bio

Art Davis – Ink and Watercolor Artist, Composer, and Multi-Instrumentalist.

Art has made a living as a composer, musician, playwright, writer, pipe organ builder’s apprentice, technical theatre director, theatre producer, teacher, mime, computer system’s integrator, and IT Architecture Manager. Art retired in April of 2020 just in time for the world-wide challenges of Covid-19.

In 2022 Art stopped composing, playing, and recording music due to arthritis in his hands. He continues to compose on occasion. He has shifted his focus to interpreting urban and rural landscapes in ink and watercolor.

He was introduced to painting by his grandmother. She informally taught him the basics of painting in oil while they spent time in the summer painting together. He ended up being totally engrossed in music and theatre and it wasn’t until decades later that he picked up the pen and brush in earnest and began to study the craft.

Early in his career Art was involved in theater. Acting, writing, composing, directing, and producing plays became his creative focus. He worked primarily with The Hip Pocket Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas and with the Tongue and Groove Theatre in Austin, Texas. He founded the Token Mime Theatre in Denton, Texas producing pantomime plays and offering classes in the art of pantomime.

Art comes from a long lineage of musicians and composers. He plays the trumpet, guitar, and piano. His grandfather was a conductor and composer of concert band and orchestral music. Art began playing trumpet professionally at the age of 16 in his father’s Jazz Big Band, The Art Davis Orchestra. Boyhood memories of seeing his father at his small desk with drying parts scattered on the floor, pen in hand fueled his interest in music and composition. Art played trumpet in many ensembles including Master Cylinder, The Doug Balentine Band, The Bricolage Ensemble, a free jazz improvisation project. Later he switched his focus to piano and classical guitar. Some of his music continues to be available on Spotify and other digital streaming platforms. His music reflects his eclectic musical experience including classical, rock, folk, jazz, free improvisation, and electronica. His later music focuses on simplification and minimalism, primarily works for classical guitar, piano, and strings.

Art holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition from North Texas State University focusing on Analog Electronic Music and Intermedia studying with Larry Austin. He continued his studies in the graduate program as teaching assistant to Phil Winsor teaching the Graduate Seminar in Computer Music.