DB Mueller Fine Art an interview with Dave Mueller by: Dan Thompson for AAFO.com I have had the pleasure of knowing Dave (DB) Mueller for over ten years now. I met him while taking SCUBA diving classes in Phoenix, he got me certified as a diver and we did our check out dive in Maui where Dave eventually moved to, met his lovely wife Krista and settled down for a while before moving to his home in Park City Utah. I visited the Muellers several times in Maui where I spoke of my passion for flying and air racing. Dave was very interested in flying and this thing we call the NCAR and began to take flying lessons and completed his private in Hawaii. He then met "The Gang" in Reno for his first air race and got "hooked". I knew Dave had many deep hidden talents as I feel he knew the same as well. He has such a passion for life and aviation that he found one of these hidden talents in doing aviation art. As you will see and hear from Dave and myself, my very dear friend is gifted with a talent that he shares with us all, aviation and the gift of capturing it on canvas.... Dave, could you share with us a bit about you and your aviation experiences....? "Well, learning to fly in the Hawaiian Islands was sure a treat. In just about every flight, whether it was flying over a pod of humpbacks, seeing full-circle 360-degree rainbows, or just flying along the coast, I always had the feeling of "Ahhhh, THIS is why I fly". I think the coolest flights though, were flying around the Islands in friend’s T-6. Especially when we had permission to do touch & go’s on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor. THAT was a kick. Later on, I had an opportunity to work with a flight school in St. Augustine, FL for a year or so. Had a whole lot of fun, learned a lot, and met a great bunch of people…..and pilots." Noticing the finest details on your work Dave, what do you look for in your work and what do you want to accomplish as the end result? "I don’t so much "look for" something to put in my work as I more "see something in my head" that I want to paint, and go from there. Visually, I see images that have bright colors, sharp shadows, and interesting reflections. When I "see" something, it’s usually because there’s a story, or a feeling, behind it that I want to put on canvas. As far as what I want to accomplish as an end result…. well, I’d like to present a visually striking image, hopefully capturing the feeling of the moment, with the viewer standing back thinking "Ahhhh,…..cool." Sometimes it works, and sometimes it falls flat. Invoking an emotional response is when I know I’ve hit the mark." I have several of your works in my home Dave and I know some of our friends do as well, but when you finished "The Legend Lives On" and presented it to Bob Hoover, not only was I stunned, but Mr. Hoover was taken by the painting as well. Can you tell us a little bit about this piece you did and what inspired you to do it? "Jeez, just watching the man fly is all the inspiration you need. The scene I painted for this was something I saw last year at Reno ’99. Bob was flying the Shrike and Ol’ Yeller had been out an’ about on the ramp. I felt it was the perfect way to meld the two together. For me, getting to know who Bob Hoover was and what he was all about was from watching him fly those two planes over the years." "Wanna Play?" with Tom Dwelle’s' Critical Mass and Rare Bear is just awesome Dave. What inspired you to do this and what were you trying to say in this painting? "I became of fan of Critical Mass the first year it was out there. It LOOKS like what an air racer should look like. And that orange? I just had to paint it. I had fun with this one, I wanted to put something together that showed these two monsters up there really going at it. It looks like they’re about to mid-air but with the way The Bear’s coming in he’ll just do a barrel roll over the top. As in… ‘Wanna Play?’ " I know the whole Critical Mass team enjoyed the painting Dave, do you have future plans to continue your work with other teams from Reno? "You bet! I’ve got a few things already in the works, I mean, with so many air racers and so many colors I could spend a lifetime painting these guys. (…and probably will.)" Dave, for some, the cost of owning or commissioning an "Original" piece of artwork is a little cost prohibitive. I understand you’re working with some fine people in Park City on a new process which generate limited edition prints that look like an original on canvas. Could you explain this and what's it called? "Sure. It’s called a "Giclee on Canvas". Giclee is French meaning "to squirt or to spray ink". In other words, a scanned image printed on a high resolution, inkjet printer. Giclee printers have a resolution of over 1400dpi, giving it a virtually continuous tone print. And it can print on to a variety of media with museum quality. The four main colors combine to produce up to 16 million colors. So in my opinion, it gives the truest and sharpest color reproduction out there. Also, with using certain processes, prints can last over 75 years before any visible fading occurs. I chose to go with printing on canvas because I feel it gives the prints an added value. I wanted to offer a piece of art as opposed to a paper poster. Another cool thing is you can either have them matted and framed, or stretched onto stretcher boards, just like an original painting, and have them framed like that. It makes ‘em look pretty darn classy." Does this make owning some D.B. Mueller art more affordable? "It does. Having a limited edition Giclee Canvas print is like only 10% of the cost of having an original." Is there a way people can see first hand what these look like before deciding to purchase one? "Oh sure. I’ve run some small sample prints that I can send out, (no charge.) to those that would like to check ‘em out." Now that your having more exposure on you and your work Dave, what's your focus going to be and do you think we will see more of your works through the year and again at Reno 2001? "Well, I’ll tell ya, I’m definitely going to be focusing on the air racers and warbirds. And, yes, you will be seeing what I come up with throughout the year and at Reno Ought One." I know you have a fairly new website for us to visit Dave, could you give us a small tour of it and give us a hint on what we might see in the future there? "Well, a small tour is the perfect request….. it’s a rather small site.( http://www.pcfastnet.com/~muelltime/ ) I’ve just recently put it up, temporary for now, just basic and simple, so people could go to it, check it out, and see what I do. Nothing gimmicky, no bazillion pages before you get to see something. I’ve got about a dozen images up that you can look at, get an idea of my style, and see what’s available and how to contact me." "A hint of what’s in the works? Hmmmm, ok, but don’t tell anybody. No, really, right now I’m finishing up on a commission of a 1949 Stinson Station Wagon flying over the Wasatch Range in Utah, up next, a commission of Dreadnought, Howard PARRRRDUUUUE, and the old Furious together, after that, a commission of some F-104’s from the 337th FIS,….mmmm, lets see, gotta couple Voodoo ideas, and, well, the list goes on……" Dave, I really want to thank you for your time and sharing your passions with us. I know all of us at AAFO.com will enjoy and appreciate your gift that you share with all of us and we can't wait to go check it out. Thanks..
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