In a city full of artists, art collectors and enthusiasts, David Steiner is something of an outlier.  Steiner is not only all of the above, but also a longtime resident of Sarasota’s art scene. The gallery that he opened with his ex-wife, Tre Michel, State of the Arts Gallery, has propounded the works of local fine artists since 2005. Steiner, a contemporary painter and photographer, has seen the scene change and take shape over the past two decades. “There’s been an up and down evolution with the art galleries in town,” says Steiner, from his eponymous gallery and studio in the Rosemary District.  “A lot of the older galleries have gone by the wayside, largely because of real estate and rent prices going up. That being said, there are a lot more artists in town and I think that the quality of artwork in this city is better than it’s ever been.” Steiner, who estimates that he’s sold north of 1,500-2,000 paintings over his career in Sarasota, thinks of himself as something of the “old man” in town. He’s hoping that his latest series can draw fresh eyes upon his work. Much of Steiner’s paintings—large-scale, acrylic works often on canvases that he builds himself—can be grouped into three major categories: Totems, Refractions and Quays.  His latest series, Doyennes, is the culmination of the Abstract Expressionistic techniques displayed in the series, particularly Totems and Refractions. His piece Surf Siren was featured at the The Chicago Network’s Women in Forefront Luncheon this past June in Chicago and launched a future solo exhibition at Sarasota’s Art Ovation Hotel in 2027. Surf Siren features an abstract take on the silhouette of a woman holding a surfboard, her powerful figure rising out of thin air, almost mid-stride.  “The abstract parts in the back of the paintings and the technique that I use to get this paint feel is very subtractive," says Steiner. "I fill the canvas with all kinds of color and then I subtract out what I don’t want to keep." For Steiner, painting is a dance. He uses raw canvases, so the paint is almost staining it, and works in multiple steps, layering paint and washing it off to create his desired effect, akin to the canvas developing a patina. Inside of that patina, are where his creations live. “It gives space for happy accidents to happen. I can’t control what the water’s going to do. It ties into the Japanese concept of wabi–sabi, the beauty and decay or lifecycle of something,” says Steiner. “I’m eroding the surface of the painting over and over again, and what pops up is always a surprise.”   SRQ