Davis Perkins is a California landscape painter with an unusual background. He has had a long career as a smokejumper, firefighter, paramedic, as well as professional artist. After serving as a paratroop sergeant (first with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, and later with the 12th Special Forces Group of the Army Reserve), Davis worked 13 summers as a smokejumper, parachuting into forest fires with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. During the winter he attended art school, graduating from the University of Oregon with a degree in fine arts. His early work was featured in solo exhibitions at the Alaskan State Museum and the Smithsonian Institution Air & Space Museum; both museums selected his work for their permanent collections. In addition, he has a painting in the Pentagon with the United States Air Force Art Collection as well as in the collections of several other public institutions. Davis exhibits his work in galleries and other art venues in Northern California, while continuing his life of travel and public service. In 2007 he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, and created paintings from his view at the summit. He remains active as a paramedic, and as a member of the Disaster Medical Assistance Team of the Department of Health and Human Services. Since 2010 Davis has served on medical relief missions to Haiti, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Liberia (Ebola outbreak), Vanuatu, Nepal, Lesvos, Greece to aid with the refugee crisis, and Mosul, Iraq, working with trauma patients in the current conflict.
Davis has been featured in several national magazines, including the April/May 2018 issue of the Plein Air Magazine. He is an Artist Member of the California Art Club and a Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America.
View the archived show page for Carol Peek & Davis Perkins: Painting The West, presented by the Gallery February 10—March 16, 2024.
Read more about Davis…
View this artist's archived work
Scott Valley Barn
Oil on panel, 11″ x 14″. Painting only: $3,000.
Framed in a No. 16—2″ with 18kt gilt sight edge. Quartersawn white oak with Dark Weathered stain. (Inquire for other frame options).
Painting framed as shown: $3,400.
BUY
Silveira Barn, Novato
Oil on panel, 14″ x 18″. Painting only: $3,750.
Framed in a No. 26 CV—3″ with bronze waxed sight edge. Quartersawn white oak with Medieval stain. (Inquire for other frame options).
Painting framed as shown: $4,500.
BUY
Late Afternoon Near Spirit Rock; Marin County
2023. Oil on panel, 16″ x 24″. Painting only: $5,000.
Framed in a No. 22.6 CV—3″ in quartersawn white oak with Dark Weathered stain. 18kt gilt slip. (Inquire for other frame options).
Painting framed as shown: $6,250.
BUY
Another Storm from the South, Scott Valley, CA
Oil on canvas, 16″ x 20″. Painting only: $5,000.
Framed in a No. 16 CV—2 1/2″ with 12kt gilt sight edge. Fumed quartersawn white oak finished with linseed oil. (Inquire for other frame options).
Painting framed as shown: $5,600.
BUY
Early Morning on the Scott
Oil on panel, 16″ x 20″. Painting only: $5,000.
Framed in a No. 1 CV Edge—2″ in walnut finished with linseed oil. (Inquire for other frame options).
Painting framed as shown: $5,350.
BUY