J Douglas Dalrymple

Doug Dalrymple is a Chicago-based Artist who works with a variety of mediums. His story unfolds amidst the dirt roads and cornfields of Clive, Iowa, where he was born and raised. His journey into the realm of art began early, thanks to a congenital hyper-growth defect in his right hand. To aid his fine motor development and enhance his writing skills, his mother introduced him to the tactile world of art using crayons, pencils, chalkboards, and tempera. Despite her attempts to mold him into a lefty, Doug's creative spirit danced to its own rhythm, and he is not even a little bit ambidextrous. His mother, despite being a single parent, orchestrated private watercolor lessons with his junior high art teacher, igniting a flame for art that would burn for a lifetime.

Doug's artistic explorations flourished at West Des Moines Valley High School, where he delved into a wide array of mediums - from graphite, charcoal, and watercolor to the tactile delight of clay, woodcarving, and silk screening. The guidance and encouragement from his remarkable art teachers, Steve Cunningham and Gene Brown, propelled him toward envisioning a future adorned with artistic endeavors. A significant nod to his budding talent came during his senior year when he was granted a scholarship to immerse in life drawing at the Des Moines Art Center. This accolade led him to the portals of the College of Art and Design at Iowa State University. Here, his artistic repertoire expanded to embrace textiles, jewelry, and furniture design alongside his already extensive medium mastery.

However, life had a different script; after three enriching years at Iowa State, Doug transitioned into restaurant management, married, and started a family. ‘Starving Artist’ wasn’t gonna cut it, and as fate would have it, his intrigue with computers and electronics veered his path toward the technology frontier in the early 1980s. Climbing the ladder to IT executive management, Doug often found his artistic background to be the secret sauce in his toolkit for creative problem-solving.

The call of the canvas was irresistible, and after a 35-year hiatus, encouraged by the chorus of family and friends, Doug rekindled his romance with brushes, choosing the comforting embrace of watercolors as his starting point. His artistic journey took a fortunate turn when he got the opportunity to hone his watercolor skills under the tutelage of the esteemed Chicago artist and teacher Ed Hinkley. In retirement from IT, Doug has been adventuring into new territories of artistic expression, exploring music, woodcarving, jewelry designing, digital design, and the futuristic realm of 3D modeling & printing.