For many people, going to work means putting on dress pants and a button-up shirt for a day at the office. For artist David Lane, his office is in his garage and his work attire includes his best Hawaiian shirt. While this may seem unconventional to many, that’s exactly what Lane likes.
“I want to do things that people can’t do or haven’t done. There are lots of great painters out there, lots of great muralists, and I’m looking for an angle that’s unique,” he says.
Bringing art to life
Courtesy of Maggie Lardie
A pioneer in his approach to stereo painting, Lane takes the concept of unique angles both figuratively and literally. Stereo paintings consist of two offset images that, when viewed through the right lens, come together and create the feeling of depth. Lane refers to himself and creative partner Cody Wood as large-scale stereo painters, as they bring the three-dimensional concept to a larger canvas.
“Stereo paintings activate the parallax in your brain that only happens when you see things in 3D,” says Lane. “I say that’s different from every painting out there.”
Lane has always been interested in the subject of history, especially that of his hometown, Grove City. He hopes to complete a mural of bison in Grove City, which he calls “a metaphor of where Grove City has been.”
Lane credits much of his artistic inspiration to his wife, who encouraged his passion for history through her career.
“My wife was in charge of the history collection at the library,” he says. “For 34 years, she was the person if you needed historical pictures or stories. I’m so interested in Grove City history because of my connection with her.”
High-tech work
While Lane is incredibly interested in topics of the past, he wouldn’t be able to complete much of his work without modern-day technology. A lot of his art is created using 3D-printed objects, which he occasionally puts together to make a larger image.
Courtesy of Maggie Lardie
For example, his work “17,502” consists of 17,502 3D-printed coronaviruses that are painted and combined to create the likeness of Governor Mike DeWine and Dr. Amy Acton during one of their 2020 public addresses. The work was acquired by the Ohio History Connection and can be found in its Pandemic collection.
Aside from 3D printing, Lane uses many other forms of technology to assist him in his artwork. Most of his stereo paintings have to be mapped out through a computer before they’re painted, as any kind of imperfect placement could mess up the 3D effect.
Lane has also used CNC machines to create art, swapping the normal tool the machine uses for a marker.
“I was actually the tech guy at school,” Lane says. “All the teachers would call me when there was a problem with the computer. That’s one of the things that I wanted to take on in my art, is to use those skills.”
Play Ball
Courtesy of Maggie Lardie
Over the summer of 2023, Lane and Wood created a stereo mural titled “Game Time” to commemorate 40 years of Grove City High School Alumni Softball Tournaments.
Painted on the left side of the mural is a class Polaroid from the 1983 tournament, while an iPhone on the right shows a Facebook photo of the same participants 40 years later.
The mural is on display at Fryer Park, where viewers can look through a lens to see the past and present collide before their eyes.
Educational impact
Along with offering occasional tech support, Lane taught art at Park Street Intermediate School for 30 years. He even painted a mural inside the school building to set it apart from the other buildings in the area.
Courtesy of Maggie Lardie
“We wanted to make ours unique, and to make it unique, I just painted three kids welcoming you when you come in,” he says.
Lane taught more than 10,000 students over the course of his career. During their time with him, he was determined to give them an outlet through which they could be creative.
“Art is an expression of who you are. It’s very freeing,” Lane says. “I had lots of students who didn’t like art or didn’t want to do art, and I’m like, ‘It’s a time for you to put those academic things away and express yourself in a different way.’ I wanted to show them that art can be a lot of different things.”
Finding your niche
The endless possibilities in the art work both excite Lane, but also make him feel it is difficult to stand out.
“There’s lots of people that can paint in this day and age. Images are so much easier to get to because of the internet and social media. You need to stand out more than you ever have,” he says. “There was a time where you could just paint something and people were impressed. I think they’re much harder to impress now.”
While finding new ways to wow audiences can be difficult at times, Lane remains grateful that he’s able to pursue his passion every day.
“When I’m working on a project, I feel like that’s what I was made to do,” he says.
Lane has big plans when it comes to the future. Currently, he hopes to finish his mural series in Grove City, but beyond that, his ideas range from plein air paintings of Grove City’s bike trails to virtual reality setups of the sculptures at the Columbus Museum of Art. In the meantime, he plans to just take it day by day and keep doing what he loves.
“Right now, I just want to paint,” Lane states. “I’m full steam ahead.”
Maggie Lardie is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
