Arthur Kdav ( Keith Davis): An Artist Story

University of Wisconsin - Whitewater campus, McGraw Building South side Arthur Kdav installation art piece - still looking amazing!  Pictured here is his daughter, Heather Swan,  a poet, writer, teacher at UW Madison, who happened to be on campus doing a reading.  She went to see the painting and got this photo with her dad's art piece.  I also found some pictures of this piece getting installed and getting loaded from the Arthur Kdav's studio in Pepin, Wisconsin.  Arthur Kdav on scaffolding at UW installing the artwork.  

Pastels, Prints and Etchings by Arthur Kdav.   Some of these are now available unframed on ETSY - Wren's Art Nest.   Some of the pastels are undated - but our family believes these were completed  between 2011 - 2019.  These dates are estimates based on what we know he was working on over the years.  They were created after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.     You can see lines in the pictures of the work here that are also found in his large steel frame canvas sculptural paintings as well as his early "Matisse" style blue prints.  While Parkinson's Disease forced Arthur Kdav to change the way he created - it didn't keep him from continuity in his results.  Impressive.  

 ARTHUR KDAV ITEM FOR SALE ON EBAY LINK HERE TO A SHOW POSTCARD https://www.ebay.com/itm/325749602018?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=C-KJVZJ-T2G&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

1969 Etching signed Keith Davis (prior to him using his artist sign Arthur Kdav)   Circa 2010 Pastels signed Kdav (Arthur Kdav early work is signed with his birth name Keith Davis)

  I just found this piece today listed for resale! it is gorgeous.

 A wonderful little story was shared with me today regarding one of my dad's paintings, "One Couple's Journey". This piece was commissioned by a fellow sailor on Lake Pepin.  Here is the story about the piece being delivered to their home. When the work was completed, Arthur (as we knew him then) brought it in his cube van to our home and hung it over our fireplace in the living room.  We were overwhelmed how profoundly the piece encapsulated our passion for sailing along with the beauty of Lake Pepin. He explained the orange highlights Point No Point and Rattlesnake Coulee in the setting sun, two of the landmarks dear to sailors on Lake Pepin. Hidden behind the main panel are Mississippi clams, just like they are in real life. The curvatures of the iron work are reminiscent of sailboat rigging underway, and one can almost hear the water splashing and bubbling along the hull.  He explained his approach pays homage to ancient Native American methods of lacing fabric ov