Doug Deihl - Native American Expert and Digital Artist - Summer 2021

I have known Doug Deihl for almost 30 years and I can say unequivocally he is one of the true gentlemen in the field of Tribal Art. So you get it I like him and would love to help him. But if I hated his art I probably would have told him. As I get older fewer and fewer people ask me direct questions. I do not profess to understand the world of digital art; however I do understand what moves people and I do appreciate that creativity that takes people a little bit further than they planned to go. Think of some of those fabulous off the wall creative segments on Project Runway and it is easy to envision Doug Deihl lecturing at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). What a trip going from Indian beadwork to digital art. Hope you enjoy the article - the first part was written by Doug’ daughter Emmaline.. the second by Doug.

Douglas Deihl likes to think of himself as a “Pixel Poet” these days, after a career in many different but related art fields. Long before he would ever learn to drag a mouse, click, tap, and navigate his way through Photoshop, he was absorbing the history of art. In the early 70’s Deihl was standing in front of the Metropolitan Museum in New York on Sunday mornings hoping to sell some of his handmade bamboo flutes to passersby. Back then he could not possibly conceive of doing digital art on a computer at home. It did not exist. What did exist to be seen were plenty of museums and galleries with art of all periods and places. And Deihl took advantage of looking.

With a degree in Cultural Anthropology, Deihl was first drawn to ethnic music played on

wind instruments. Listening to this music and learning the fundamentals of playing the flute led him to make bamboo, hardwood, and ceramic flutes. Being a natural born collector who

likes to hold and study objects, he started collecting wind instruments from around the world. His collection, along with examples of flutes he made, now belongs to the Museum of Fine Art in Boston.

While working as an artisan for 30 years, Deihl continued to increase his knowledge of other cultures by studying the art they made. Through museum visits and acquiring an extensive library, he gained the research tools he needed to deeply study art from all over the world. Going to antique shops and art shows gave him the opportunity to handle many objects, and perhaps bring one home. This passion for ethnographic art lead him to leave the craft circuit and take a job at Skinner Inc., where he served as the director of American Indian Art and Ethnographic Art for 22 years.

During all these years, Deihl was creating his own art, starting with clay reliefs and then meticulous, textural, abstract oil paintings. He had an “Aha!” moment one day when seeing what his sister Corinne Grondahl had accomplished on Photoshop. Grondahl received a grant from the New York MTA to permanently install an artwork at a New York subway station and needed to transform digital images of her textile art into designs that could be used for stained glass. Deihl was highly impressed and inspired to start learning Photoshop. With the guidance of Grondahl and lessons from his friend John Cornelius, he uploaded high resolution images of his paintings and began manipulating them with simple tools and filters. Three years later, he is working on Photoshop almost daily. More recently, he began creating designs from scratch, and is continually expanding his Photoshop skills.

Using Photoshop was a radical change for Deihl, and while his vivid digital designs are a certainly a departure from his previous work, they could only be possible after a life spent studying art from all over the world. Upon closer look they reveal a deep knowledge of forms, patterns, and motifs inspired by tribal and Modern art. Clearly the rhythms and patterns inherent in music have also been a strong influence in Deihl’s digital art. Deihl does not plan his designs in advance, and instead goes with the flow of the process and lets the medium influence the outcome. While he is often surprised at the impact of a certain filter or new tool which leads to an unexpected outcome, the roots and influences of his work are undeniable.

Where will this new direction take him more than a half century since he stood

on the steps of the Met selling flutes? Back then he didn’t know how one thing would lead to another, and he still doesn’t. But he is excited by the challenges of creating digital art.

Rather than being made for the sole purpose of being viewed on a screen, Deihl envisions his work as having far reaching commercial applications, including art prints, textile designs, and decorative objects. His daughter Emmaline Deihl recently had one of his designs printed onto cotton fabric, which was then used to sew a cocktail dress. Like all art that is sent out into the world to be seen, it is now up to the viewer to weigh in. https://www.dougdeihl.com/

From Doug’s View:

From feathers to Photoshop. Quite the contrast.

​For many years I made little paintings in my studio, beginning with strange (some say disturbing) little figures in abstract landscapes, eventually fixating on the abstract backgrounds. I would paint, scrape, and repaint over and over until a patina of layers revealed some texture that I would be temporarily satisfied with. It was an endless and unrewarding task in some ways, yet I loved it and would lose myself in the task of creation for days, weeks, even months on a single painting. Which I rarely ever exhibited or sold.

Although surrounded and inspired by talented Pioneer Valley realists, particularly Gregory Gillespie, and including my brother Randy Deihl and his wife Nancy Hill Deihl, my own work always turns out as an explosion of color and dreamlike abstraction.

I'm only recently using a smart phone, so the move to digital art could not be more out of character, yet here I am. I credit the unflappable patience of John Cornelius, photographer and fellow collector, who tutors me in Photoshop. The same hours I used to spend in my studio deep in paints, thinners, and glazes, I now spend in front of my computer, creating the artwork I am showing on this site. I want to thank my sister Corinne Grondahl, an amazing artist in her own right, who saw an early exploration and thought it was amazing and encouraged me to do more.

I hope you will get some fun out viewing my work. I had a blast creating it. https://www.dougdeihl.com/