Dylan Montanio
Born and raised in Colorado, but spent time living in Santa Fe, New Mexico as a child. In Santa Fe, I gained an appreciation of southwestern art and culture. Between New Mexico and Colorado, I really got to love the outdoors and nature. I always loved looking into the mountains on a drive and seeing old homesteads dilapidated up on the slopes. Imagining the stories the land could tell if it had a voice.
I had always loved drawing when I was a child, it was one of my favorite things to do, and I always said I'd be an artist when I grew up. When I was 7 I won an award with the local railway for a drawing of a train the students all did as a contest.
I stuck with art through school. I didn’t go to art school- instead going to culinary school. I pursued art while working in the culinary industry having showings at galleries in Denver, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins until 2012- including showings at the Zodiac Gallery 2007, Color and Light Gallery 2008, Rhino Art Gallery 2008, Butterflies and Friends Benefit for the Colorado Springs Rotary Club 2012, and RAW artists showcase 2012. I'm trying to find the names of the others, but so many have shut down over the years. Like any before 2008 don’t exist anymore.
In Nov 2012 I had a car accident in which I broke my back, not long after that I went through a divorce. I went into a depression and stopped focusing on the arts and focused entirely on my career as a chef. I started in food service at 14 as a way to afford guitars and art supplies… and afford teenage mischief. It was the closest thing I could find to art for steady work and then when my oldest daughter came along it became a necessity of trade that I take it seriously and go to school.
In 2021 I nearly died of pneumonia and that got my artistic wheels turning again in a way that did involve food for the first time in almost a decade. I started only sketching a bit here and there and practicing my guitar again, which then grew back to painting. In 2023 I lost several friends and my long-time canine companion (and best friend) and decided to fully pursue art again. I had that realization that life is too short to be afraid of following your dreams. I don’t like the phrase though. I say make big goals and climb that ladder with a million smaller ones.
I live in Colorado Springs with my wife, daughters, and two puppies