Dan’s paintings can be seen all around High Wycombe; whether it’s the high street’s heritage mural under the Guildhall, the stylish footbridge over the railway line in Priory Avenue or the transformed underpass beneath it at Birdcage Walk/Gordon Road. Maybe you’ve seen the redecorated Marsh & Micklefield tunnel, a brilliant collaborative, community project. Perhaps his most well-known local artwork was the ‘trompe l’oeil’ mural on the Brunel Engine Shed as it awaited its renovation. And there are so many more spaces and places around town where his skills have energised empty walls, roller shutters, utility boxes and more!
Dan grew up in Penn & Tylers Green. Finding refuge in art, he attended John Hampden Grammar school and then BNU for his Art Foundation before studying Fine Art at university in Surrey. He was happier outside academia, however, and found work in various areas of the creative industries, such as storyboarding, illustration and graphics, whilst also painting and decorating, and even furniture restoration, to pay the bills.
The name ‘Decreate’ was created to be an umbrella term for all his different interests which also included board sports (especially mountainboarding), comics, photography and more. The name came from the idea that there can be no creation without destruction. There is no light without shade, no yin without yang.
Dan started working with a mural agency in 2010 and discovered a real passion for painting at scale and for collaborations. This evolved into more community-based art when Chiltern Rangers invited him to be their ‘artist ranger’.
He has always worked in a studio and these days he’s based at Wycombe Arts Centre on Desborough Road, where he has volunteered for eight years. As well as helping with exhibitions and hosting workshops, he also runs Art Club – a free-thinking space for all-comers to make their own art. Visit wycombeartscentre.com for more information.
A recent project at All Saints Church shows us a hint of things to come. Together with over 20 young people, they transformed the ugly, corrugated metal hoarding protecting the damaged south door into a glorious floral celebration. And soon we will see another big ‘Decreate’ community arts project arriving; supported by We Make Wycombe, ‘Wycombe Journeys’ will bring large-scale public art by different local artists to the Bus Station! Exciting, creative times – as is so often the case with High Wycombe, where Creativity meets Opportunity.
You can follow him on Instagram @decreateuk or Facebook @decreate.
