Dan Gilman


Dan will tell you himself that art has totally changed his outlook on life. His artistic journey has acted as an emotional outlet to work through periods of deep depression after becoming paralyzed from his armpits down. He has overcome his paralyzed hands to create unusual and compelling designs. Dan hopes his studio here will help others realize how, despite the severest of challenges on a range of levels it is possible to achieve emotional and artistic fulfillment.  

At the age of 15, Dan broke his neck when messing around with friends who dared him to dive into a rubber ring floating on the top of a pool. This injury meant that Dan was severely paralyzed from his armpits down and since then has had to learn to reinvent himself and find ways to make his body work for him. Dan has a really sad story to tell for shortly after the accident he was abused physically, emotionally and sexually in his paralyzed state. Years later he was to tell his story in his memoir The Blue Hole to help bring healing to his life and also counter any misunderstandings that others may have.

Dan began his artistic journey by experimenting with Zentangle and also as an emotional outlet. He worked with archival ink and graphite pencil overcoming his paralyzed hands to create unusual and compelling designs. His work has progressed as his love of Vermont and the outdoors has led him to depict country scenes, always with a sense of journey and a pathway taken at the heart of them. He is now experimenting with color and finding ways to master new techniques.