Art has major role in Sandy man's life        

Born deaf, art helped give balance to his life from an early age

By Janine S. Creager
Close-Up Correspondent
Salt Lake Tribune

Article Last Updated:08/28/2008 12:35:59 PM MDT

As a young child, Ben Davis saw the white walls of his home as the perfect canvas. Much to his dismay, his mother thought otherwise, and made him scrub those 'canvases' clean.
    Since those early days, Ben Davis, 24, has continued in his pursuit of art and recently was chosen as the Emerging Artist at Summerfest International, an art, music and dance festival held in Bountiful earlier this month. And while he sticks to art canvases these days, one thing hasn't changed: He still has to clean up after himself.
    "I think the only thing I don't like about painting is cleaning up," said Ben Davis. "I really wish that someone else would clean up."
    As the fifth child of seven redheaded children of Mike and Carolyn Davis of Sandy, Ben Davis was born into a world of silence. He eschewed the hearing aids provided for him, even, at one time, purposefully putting them through the washer so he would not have to wear them. This willful determination, however, was balanced with his natural artistic talent. After deciding that writing on the walls wasn't worth it if he had to clean up, he eagerly accepted the reams of scratch paper and colored pencils provided by his parents.
    "I remember I could draw as much as I wanted while I was in meetings or things. (I) was really bored because I couldn't hear what they were saying so I would draw," he said in a recent interview, his mother interpreting in sign language. It was in high school, and with the encouragement of insightful art teachers, that Ben Davis knew that art would play a significant role in his life.
    "Art was the one place he could shine," said Carolyn Davis. "His art teachers made it worthwhile for him to go to school."
    Ben Davis began working with watercolors, then switched to oils, his current medium of choice. He paints from his own imagination, as well as from real-life experience or from photographs. Much of what he knows about painting he learned from classes and private lessons with Utah artist Bonnie Posselli. For the first year he attended classes, his mother came with him. But over time, he and Posselli, who does not know sign language, learned to communicate with one another.
    "I have a great deal of affection for him," said Posselli. "He brought an illuminating experience (to our classes), of laughter, and was able to get a joke across somehow. At the same time, he was a remarkable painter, and could pull something out of his head, or (get an idea from something he looked at). He was very intuitive as a painter, (and is) one of the best painters I have had as a student."
    Emma Dugal, Director of the Bountiful/Davis Arts Center which sponsors Summerfest, was thrilled to honor Ben Davis as this year's festival.
    With the Emerging Artist, she explained, "we want to give an opportunity to someone who has some challenges . . . and provide an opportunity to exhibit and promote their art and continue with their efforts. (Ben) has added a lot of dimensions to our art festival. I'm just really pleased that he has been able to be involved with that."
    As for the future, Ben Davis plans to improve his technique, and hopes to see his art in more galleries and festivals.
    "I'd like to go to many more shows," he said. "I'd like to show my art in places, and I want to build a good reputation."
    Ben Davis' artwork will be on display through August 30 at the Bountiful/Davis Arts Center, 745 South Main.