Artist Dan Nelson may be hard to define, but he's a creative talent you won't soon forget.
"If you combine three parts painter, two and a half parts musician, a pound or two of inventor, and a heaping tablespoon of show-off," wrote Fine Art America, the world's largest art marketplace and print-on-demand technology company, "you might come up with Dan Nelson, art adventurer extraordinaire."
The versatile artist makes his second appearance at the 2025 Dogwood Festival at the three-day event's much-anticipated precursor, Cork & Fork. "America's Premier Event Painter" will be a featured guest at the Dogwood Festival kickoff food and wine event happening Thursday, April 24, in Festival Park. Nelson's live art joins the Dogwood Festival's traditional lineup of music, food, vendors, and carnival rides with the return of Nelson's plein air, a live performance style unique in the world of art.
No stranger to Fayetteville, Nelson last painted live on stage here during the 2018 Dogwood Festival before a captive audience of thousands. Fast forward seven years, and the connection to this year's event, the 43rd Dogwood Festival, clicks into place.
Nelson's 2018 painting, commissioned by the Up & Coming Weekly community newspaper, is the official artwork of the 2025 Dogwood Festival. The cover of the Official Dogwood Festival edition of Up & Coming Weekly, along with commemorative souvenirs such as festival posters and t-shirts, capture and showcase the colorful festival streetscape. Nelson's abstract realism rendering of the lights, rides, and action of the Dogwood Midway, experienced through the wonder of a child's eyes—the small boy subject painted at the forefront of the scene—truly embodies the excitement of Fayetteville's signature and award winning festival.
Delivering an art and audio exhibition all in one, Nelson, a classically trained musician as well as professional artist, said he wields brushes and rollers, acrylics and oils, ladders and platforms to create masterpieces " in stereo, with just the right amount of dramatic, orchestral sweeps and harps and drums." Reflective of his inventive side, the original 2018 canvas was propped atop a handcrafted 8 x 10-foot easel, mounted on a two-and-a-half-foot lift, and outfitted with a "rock concert" sound system. While his accouterments and tricks of the trade vary with each performance, audiences should be prepared for anything.
Nelson mesmerizes audiences with the on-site, often life-sized paintings he creates using his ingenious, dual-handed brushwork and personable audience interaction. Dan Nelson Art portrays real-life festivals, weddings, concerts, fundraisers, and events of all sizes on canvas in real time.
His artistic reach extends to large companies and organizations, including the North Carolina Symphony, the Carolina Hurricanes, IBM, GlaxoSmithKline and countless others. His website domains, www.danielnelsonart.com, www.festivalpainter.com and www.weddingpainter.com provide a glimpse into his artistic prowess.
For live works, Nelson always paints the scene before him. He never begins with a plan of what he will paint but instead lets it evolve. The live painting he will produce at the Cork & Fork event on April 24th will be auctioned off that evening with the proceeds donated to the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival.
"I'm a very different kind of entertainment because my paintings develop," he said. "But you can almost say crowds of people are my specialty."
Cork & Fork will be an evening of amazing art, live music by Fayetteville's own Carolina Country Music Award winner Nicholas Vernon, plus the namesake special sips and bites for sponsors and ticket holders. All proceeds from the evening benefit Off-Road Outreach, a nonprofit organization that supports veterans in our community. Limited tickets are available and always sell out quickly; purchase online at www.eventeny.com/events/2025-fayetteville-dogwood-festival-16001/.
Bill Bowman, Publisher/Owner of Up & Coming Marketing, is one of several Cork & Fork sponsors for 2025 and is proud to facilitate the appearance of his friend Dan Nelson. Bowman's local 29-year-old media marketing company produces the annual Best of Fayetteville Awards, Cumberland County Golf Championship, Fayetteville Dinner Theatre, Gates Four Music Concert Series, Art Gallery 208, and a series of local business and community publications such as Up & Coming Weekly newspaper, Kidsville News! literacy and educational resource and Fayetteville Pocket Guide Business & Community Directory.
"My relationship with Dan Nelson spans nearly 30 years," Bowman shared. "The proudest moment of my journalistic career was when we created Kidsville News! of Cumberland County, a literacy and educational resource for K-5th-grade children, their teachers, and their parents. Dan Nelson contributed significantly to this success by creating Truman the Dragon, the beloved Kidsville News! literacy, educational, and good character mascot. Each cover of Kidsville News! is an original Dan Nelson painting commissioned to showcase Truman the Dragon, with a diverse, warm, friendly, and fun theme that reinforces the publication's unique format and educational and character development mission."
A graduate of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Nelson learned art and music not only from formal education but also from his highly talented father, he said. He worked professionally as a freelance illustrator and won street painting, sculpture competitions, and everything in between.
"As an illustrator, I used all traditional mediums: pen and ink, watercolor, airbrush, and pastel—everything except oil painting, which I started in midlife. I think I did my first oil painting when I was 45," he said. He delved into the world of fine art two decades ago, followed by his art love of late: live event painting.
A true lifelong learner and Renaissance Man, Nelson said he has worn three hats: ministry, music, and art. He graduated from seminary following undergraduate school and worked in full-time ministry, including music ministry, for several years.
Able to play multiple instruments, including the trumpet, guitar, harmonica, and keyboard, Nelson uses his musical abilities to help lead church worship and engage in music ministry. He and his wife, Nancy, host a home church group, participating in and leading much mission work.
Nelson said in recent years, his true identities have returned: "Dan, the Art Man, and Dan, the Music Man." You can also add the writer to that list; Nelson is a member of a writers' group working on three novels simultaneously.
Which Dan Nelson will you see at Cork & Fork? The energetic, fun-loving enigma is full of not only talent but surprises. Like the toy in the Cracker Jack box, he's worth finding.
Can't make the Thursday night event? Look for the acclaimed artist inside the Dogwood Festival edition of Up & Coming Weekly newspaper. Come to the festival Fri. April 25 through Sun. April 27 and score his autograph on an official Dogwood Festival poster featuring his famous 2018 painting. A limited number of official 43rd Dogwood Festival souvenir posters and T-shirts will be available on the Festival Park promenade and at Downtown Fayetteville's A Bit of Carolina store, located at 306 Hay St. Piccadilly Circus Antiques & Gifts at 2828 Raeford Rd. next to First Bank will also have items for sale.
Learn more at https://www.thedogwoodfestival.com/fayetteville-dogwood-festival.

(Photo: Dan Nelson, a live artist, paints events as they are happening. From festivals to weddings and everything in between, Nelson captures the spirit of the event in his paintings while event goers watch the canvas transform in real time. Photo courtesy of Dan Nelson)