Artist Bio
My name is David Shane Clancy, and I’m an artist. I was born in Lauderdale in late ’76. I am fortunate to have three really neat kids, and I love life!
Where My Art Journey All Started
I recall creating art in some form my entire life. I remember drawing, coloring, and building as a boy. Unknowingly, I was manifesting my imagination into a tangible reality that others could appreciate. I can see now that I was completely uninhibited as an early artist, to follow my imagination without limits and always have fun first. I found 3D art very early and was smitten. I learned how to use power tools in my teens and started making furniture. I learned how to sculpt alabaster in High school and was introduced to Montoya Art studios in WPB by my art teacher Ms. Banks. I visited their studio, where I bought many colorful rocks, and with limitless focus, I allowed the abstract sea life sculpture within these rocks to come to the surface.
The Foundation
While attending John I. Leonard High School in Green Acres, I worked evenings and weekends in local restaurants. I worked in several, from Perkins to the 4 Seasons... At each, the curriculum ranged from service standards and expectations to relationships and how each area of study directly correlated to the rewards of mastery. I was taught by seasoned professionals in the hospitality industry whose goal was to provide experiences that people would pay for. At the same time, I was a student of my guest/customer/friend, who arrived with expectations I wanted to exceed. In this environment, I learned how to rapidly establish connections with people, identify their expectations and remove obstacles while looking for opportunities “to do it better.” Ideally, these are the foundational attributes that I have built my life on.
Early Artist Days
By the time I was 19, I had learned everything there was to know about lawn-related from my old man, Steve Clancy. So naturally, I took his teachings and used them to start CC Landscaping. I mostly mowed lawns, did a little landscaping and fencing, and built a deck of three. I remember looking at the act of mowing a yard as sculpting in a living medium. My sculpting tools were a mower and an edger, and by far, the most satisfying was my line trimmer. I would sculpt the entire yard, shaping everything the way I thought it should. Recreating my masterpiece every week in South Florida, sun and rain were wrought with contrast. My medium of choice, plants, and the canvas were subject to much influence. Because my studio was always remote and outside and in so many ways dependent on weather and water, I chose to move on as an artist to another subject. Again, I learned more about working with (and without) people than I did about running a business or mowing lawns.
Being an Artist in the 20s
My dad passed at 41, and I was 20—again a lot of contrast in the education of change. Sometime in the next few years, I helped my stepmom navigate the sale of their home by creatively finding solutions to the issues that required attention, from painting and minor carpentry to fencing and the replacement of the water-damaged bathroom vanities. It’s worth noting that both of my parents were confident creators, and for as long as I can remember, they involved me in home repair and improvement projects. This inspiration, coupled with a desire to make a living with my passion, led me down a path of remodeling construction as an artistic expression. I always attracted patient people who believed in my vision, and we turned ordinary spaces into astounding works of art together. I could see each space and each component as an opportunity to create something extraordinary. I learned to deliberately identify a process and then address the mechanical requirements with the intent to exceed the expectation of usefulness and aesthetic perfection according to the person I was creating for/with. Utilizing a very acute understanding of processes, I could deconstruct a physical structure only to reassemble it with raw materials in ways that stretched the imagination and brought joy into our lives. Now that I provided more than a tangible thing, I was creating experiences. It is these experiences and the relationships that we built that remain long after the project is completed. I made art this way for more than a decade, always learning in the now, forever looking deeply into life as a process of processes that would ultimately empower my attempt to perfect each “brush stroke.” It wasn’t long until I realized my desire to enable creation in others. I enjoyed working with people, helping to bring their imaginations to life in impactful ways. Ways that transformed the world around them. I learned that problems were simply opportunities for creative solutions. I also learned that the more engagement I requested from someone, the more satisfied they were with the effort required. As I matured, I began to understand the power of being a good communicator and its impact on successful co-creation.
I loved to draw cars as a boy and even into my 20s. In my 30s, I watched Chip Foose quickly render a few concepts to assist people in making decisions, and I learned the power of drawing from him and started drawing to communicate. Perspective drawings in pencil became a staple in my communication toolbox. They quickly enabled the alignment of thoughts, and although I didn’t understand it this way then, I now see that this was when I began to utilize art as a form of nonlinear communication.
Enjoying the Creative Process
While working in the medium of homes, I learned to transform lives, support people through change, and find ways to make the experience exciting. I became a master of change. I pulled homes and lives apart, depleted financial resources, challenged interpersonal relationships within the family, and held their hands the whole time. I always put people first, sharing information and decision-making responsibility with the individual. One of our greetings at DS Construct, which we declared with confidence and enthusiasm, “it’s a big day.” Recognizing the need to make today significant and palpable, we would set the tone of excitement for our progress. I believe the creative process intuitively occurs in the moment of creation. As such, my projects only ever slightly resembled the concepts. Intentionally built into the design process was freedom of choice because I know that’s where great ideas are created. I believe this freedom from conformity afforded the creator and the creation the space to enjoy life’s process.
Towards a Brighter Future
After 12 years of home building, I was allowed to join Jim Moran’s Family. I never looked back; I could only see the possibilities. I knew the unknown I was heading into would be worth allowing the past to fade so that I may look upon the future with excitement and anticipation. For nearly a decade now, I have been immersed in a culture that suits me so well, like it was created just for me. Inspired by a man I have never met and guided by meaningful relationships with his associates, I have found that the most satisfying medium to create is people. As a result of Mr. Moran’s legacy of dedication to people, I have been inspired to curate the most beautiful collection of living artwork in a Gallery named JM Family. My canvas is relationships; my tools are consideration, cooperation, communication, accountability, and innovation. Over the last 9 years, my friends and I have artfully co-created satisfying relationships. Like the best of my creations, each is a unique representation of the creator and creation, and I humbly acknowledge that I am both in each.
I could never have imagined each person as a work of art, yet throughout my workday, I am delighted by my friends who create a joyful day with their smiles and warm greetings. I am blessed to work in the company of people who are the thread that is woven into the fabric of appreciation and abundance. I am eternally grateful for the individuals that have contributed their gifts to our creation. As I have been nurtured in the safe space under the branches of this great tree, I have grown, and again I am looking toward the future with confident expectations of expansion.
Being an Artist in the 30s
I was nearly 30 when I discovered an artist named Aaron Lane at a show in Naples, FL. His plaster art sculpture immediately captured my attention. I loved the simplicity of his work, and as a “drywall guy” myself, using drywall compound as a medium spoke to me in a way, I could understand. I began looking to emulate his work, but his work was his, and I had to create my own. It took about 9 years to cast my first leaf. I remember I was patching some holes in the 201 building. I pulled a leaf from the lobby plant, messily dumped a glob of the extra compound onto it, and gave it to my friend Katrina, our security guard. I returned later, snapped open my pocketknife, and gave it a quick carve. I tried that a few more times, but life was full, and I was a busy guy, so I gave it little attention.
Creating Transformational Artwork
A few years later, hiking Hollywood beach with my kids and Troop 325, the biggest sea grape leaves I had ever seen caught my eye. I brought a few homes, and for the first time, I attempted this with the deliberate intent of creating something. After witnessing the illusion of life in plaster, I continued to pour castings and refine the sculpture process to satisfy my aesthetic. Not long after I began making leaves, I found a great-looking branch. It was like an open hand. Think Beetlejuice 
. Of course, I brought it home and put it in a conspicuous spot. I contemplated a solution to reconnect this branch with its leaf. I continued to cast and sculpt leaves until the solution I was looking for came to me. Into the pour, I would place a piece of copper wire! I have grown from that first inspiration, casting a diverse collection of leaves and engineering new ways to support and display them. I look at the work of collecting and casting as the magnetic force that draws new installation ideas. As I imagine new ways to display my sculptures at scale, I draw from my experience in the many trades I learned about building homes. I create individual pieces and full installations using my design, drywall, woodworking, painting, plumbing, and electrical expertise. I aspire to create immersive digital interactive artwork to be shared by everyone with an imagination and the desire to create. I refer to my artwork as “Transformational Organic Sculpture,” recognizing the essence of life captured in plaster and the effect on those people who engage. I don’t think my subjects are ever static, and rather I believe that we are forever changed through the process of creation.
Let’s Create Magic Together
I’ve been a little league coach, camped nights with the Boy Scouts for a year, and represented my congregation at Zion Lutheran Church for a few years. With a fun first approach to participation, I showed up to co-create with people who became friends. “Art” happens everywhere! All that is required is to have the perspective of a creator. Let’s do that together, come on! Let’s do something amazing together. If I can, YOU CAN too!
As I have lived, I have learned… as I have learned, I have lived.
DS Clancy