Dan Willcox was (and is) a big fan of Bob Ross’s show, “The Joy of Painting”, on
PBS (and currently on many streaming services and YouTube) for many years as
a boy and teenager but never picked up a brush and really had little to no
interest in art. Then in July 2020 on a weekend trip to the Ormond Beach area
(with Laurie, celebrating their 22 nd wedding anniversary) they took an art class
with a Bob Ross certified instructor, Dan fell in love with painting and has
discovered a new passion. Since that first class Dan ordered all the paints and
tools that Bob talked about in his shows and started to paint along with Bob.
Lots of pause and rewind, touch screen laptop was a great help in those early
efforts. Then Dan found out about becoming a Certified Bob Ross Instructor
(CRI®) and in 2021 & 2022 completed the weeks of training with Nic Hankins at
the Bob Ross Workshop in New Smyrna Beach, FL to become a CRI® himself.
Professionally Dan was in the Financial Services industry (investments, term life
insurance, banking, and residential mortgage lending) since 2000, most of those
years in and around the Ocala FL area. Since falling in love with painting and
getting such joy out of sharing the Bob Ross method of painting with others Dan
has mostly retired from the Financial Services business to be able to focus much
more time and energy towards painting and bringing joy to others. Dan is still a
licensed mortgage loan originator but refers clients to a wonderful team that he
is a part of, and he no longer is active in loan origination process.
Dan loves to bring the same calm, soothing, and positive feeling that Bob did to
all his students and those that see his demos. Bob always said things like “you
really can do this”, and “just let it pour out of your heart”, and “we don’t make
mistakes, we just have happy accidents”, Dan is living proof of all these
statements. Anyone really can have success with this style of painting and if
you’ve ever enjoyed watching Bob Ross then we hope you will give yourself the
gift of joining at least one of the classes, you’ll be amazed at what you can do.
Dan teaches classes locally in The Enrichment Academy (The Villages), at Master
the Possibilities (life long learning, On Top of The World in Ocala) and at The
Chelsea Art Center in Ocala. Dan also does live demo paintings at many local
events, festivals, Corporate events, and charity events. Please check out the
website for additional info, easy contact methods and reach out with questions
about classes or for your event. Our website also has many Bob Ross brand
painting tools and equipment.
