Local artist lands deal with clothing and accessory giant

His childhood jacket sat in a closet for more than 20 years, but when Dolan Geiman’s mother Lisa recently sifted through the pockets, she couldn’t help but smile.

The Fishersville woman found colorful pebbles, twigs and parts of a broken tortoise shell – the kind of found objects that continue to influence her son’s art. And even though Dolan announced his latest achievement July 1 – a partnership with clothing and accessory giant Fossil – his art remains rooted in his Shenandoah Valley past.

“I love the Valley, and I love everything about the Valley,” he said, describing his art as honest, laid-back and infused with his Southern experience.

Geiman said Fossil approached him in January with an interest in incorporating his art into their products and window-display concepts in a promotion called Long Live Vintage. The company asked him to develop an original, handcrafted work.

“They said, ‘The first thing we want you to do is design a painting,’ ” he said. “They wanted to be able to use that on a T-shirt and watch tin.”

So Geiman set to work and created a mixed media piece that incorporated his Southern style onto recycled wood using acrylic paint and silk screening.

The piece was a hit, and senior management at Fossil agreed: Geiman’s art melded well with the company vision.

“He’s just real, you know?” said Tim Hale, senior vice president of design management and marketing at Fossil. “The authenticity is really important to us. The reason we approached him, and some of these other people, is that we really liked what they did.”

Hale said Geiman’s knack for repurposing historical items and ideas – his departure from digital art – sits well with the direction of their Long Live Vintage campaign. The Fossil brand team found Geiman’s work in ReadyMade magazine, Hale said.

“The audience that he attracts is the same audience that would have an appreciation for Fossil,” he said. “What he does is he epitomizes the idea behind [Long Live Vintage]. It was just a perfect match.”

At the end of the month, Geiman will travel to Fossil shops in Dallas and New York City to construct window displays for specific stores, he said.

Geiman now lives in Chicago, lured there after an uncle invited him to show his art. After eight years there, he said he often misses his Southern roots but appreciates the support he’s received in the Windy City.

Geiman said his new community seeps into his work from time to time.

“When I first got here, I totally embraced everything,” he said. “And I really started using more found objects I found around Chicago.”

Over time, though, Geiman described a small rebellion that took place within his art.

“I would say from a flat standpoint, I never realized how flat the Midwest was,” he said. “I started making work that would go against the flatness. I am a two-dimensional artist, but I’m also a tactile person.”

Despite his life in Chicago and frequent traveling to art shows around the country, Geiman said he hopes to someday retreat back to Virginia and open a studio closer to friends and family.

His mother, a well-known Valley artist, recalled her son’s childhood, growing up on a farm in a 200-year-old farmhouse.

“We spent days outside with nature,” Lisa Geiman said. “He would gather up little rocks and he’d make shapes in his mind. He was visually aware of everything around him, and that’s contributed hugely to everything he is as an artist.”

Lisa Geiman produced a stack of drawings her son created in his youth.

“He was so detailed in everything he did,” she said. “You can identify them when you look at them. You know they’re Dolan’s.”

Spike-backed dinosaurs plodded across pages which depicted winged-figures and an anatomical skeleton. Also included: a hand-drawn map of Augusta County and the region, dotted with landmarks like the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport and the General Electric plant.

“We live in a farm neighborhood with lots of woods and mountains,” a young Dolan Geiman wrote next to his county map. “We have lots of small towns.”
Lisa Geiman said her son started picking up interesting objects from the outdoors at a young age. They made their way into his work.

“His journey has been a wonderful one, I think,” she said. “He’s been very true to his love of art.”

His father, Steve Geiman, agreed.

“I’m really proud of him – he and his wife, Ali,” the father said. “They really work hard at what they do, and he’s really devoted to pursuing his art. He gets more successful every year.”

Dolan said he looks forward to working with Fossil.

“It’s such a struggle to connect with a company – to get people to see your vision,” he said. “But with them, they kept repeating, ‘We want you to do what you do because we really like it and we dig it.’ It feels like business, but it also feels like they’re friends.”

• View a slideshow of Geiman's artwork over the years