He was once a college basketball player who got an F in an art class. Today, he’s a featured artist at the La Quinta Art Celebration.
Daryl Thetford, from Chattanooga, Tenn., is just one of the many artists who will set up shop at the La Quinta’s Civic Center Campus from Thursday, Feb. 29, through Sunday, March 3. During a recent interview, he said he’d always loved drawing and painting—he started painting in oils at the age of 9—but he was encouraged to have a “practical” career by his parents, and he earned a degree in counseling from Murray State University.
As for that art class …
“Everyone else was getting A’s, so I decided to confront (the teacher),” Thetford said. “I went up to him and asked him why he was giving me F’s. He said he didn’t like my work, so I made a deal with him: I said, ‘If you give me a C, you’ll never see me again, and I will never take another art class.’ He agreed.”
After graduation, Thetford worked as a counselor for 15 years—before burning out. He recounted the experience that changed his life.
“A woman came in who had overdosed and was fighting with her relatives,” Thetford said. “She looked over at me and said, ‘You look like hell.’ She was the one who went through so much, but I was the one who looked like hell.”
His wife was already an artist, and Thetford decided to join her. Thetford is now a renowned mixed-media artist, and his works are in public and corporate collections, and have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries around the country.
His photo collage work is graphic, modern, pop and contemporary. According to his website: “The process begins with Thetford selecting a single, original photographic image followed by a digital layering and combining of dozens of additional original photographs. It is a process which takes an average of 40 hours. His resulting images range from culturally familiar individual pieces (bikes, cowboys, guitars, cityscapes) to more esoteric series based on man’s inner struggle with modern society or the human sense of isolation in the noise of the modern world. Thetford then creates a mixed-media piece using this printed image to create one-of-a-kind paintings using torn and weathered handmade paper, various artist mediums and acrylic paint.
Thetford said he never wants to discourage children away from art. “A lot of parents come up to me, and say, ‘My kid wants to be an artist,’” he said. “They look at me and expect me to tell them not to do it, to choose a practical career, a backup, while painting in their free time. But when they start a family and have a full-time job, they’re tired and don’t have time to paint. I tell them, ‘Let your child be an artist. I’ve made a good living, and many others have, too.’”
About 185 artists from 35 states and four countries will participate in the next La Quinta Art Celebration. The artists go through a blind jury process and are selected by peers who judge only the category of art in which they specialize. Event director Kathleen Hughes said Thetford always gets one of the highest scores of any participating artist. “Since La Quinta is the golf capital of the Western U.S.A., we will be using one of his golfer paintings for our shirts or posters,” Hughes said.
Hughes said the La Quinta Art Celebration has been the top-ranked fine art show in the U.S. according to the Art Fair SourceBook for 2022, 2023 and 2024. Proceeds from each La Quinta Art Celebration benefit Tools for Tomorrow’s afterschool visual and performing arts programs throughout the Coachella Valley.
“The La Quinta Art Celebration is a nationally acclaimed art event and is not a local or regional show,” Hughes said. “… The Civic Center Campus is a stellar site to host this event and has been called the most beautiful festival site in the nation.”
Thetford said he’s looking forward to his time in the desert; he said he rents a house in La Quinta Cove for weeks.
“I love being in the desert, the atmosphere, the beauty of nature, hiking—and, of course, golf,” he said.
The La Quinta Art Celebration takes place Thursday, Feb. 29, through Sunday, March 3, at La Quinta Civic Center, 78495 Calle Tampico, in La Quinta. Single-day tickets are $25; multi-day tickets are $30. For tickets or more information, visit www.laquintaartcelebration.org.
Great article! Thank you. Looking forward to the festival.