James “Billy” Dankert is a musician and self-taught artist from Austin best known as drummer, singer and songwriter for the Minnesota-based band the Gear Daddies.

Dankert now resides in St. Paul, Minn. playing reunion gigs with the Gear Daddies and drumming for Slim Dunlap’s band, Shimmy, and the Reverend Angus Strychn Trio.

Since 2003 James has provided spot illustrations for Twin Cities periodicals “City Pages” and the “The Rake,” and most recently, “Alimentum,” a journal focused on the literature of food.

He started exhibiting his paintings in Twin Cities galleries in 2007 and will be displaying a selection of acrylic paintings at the upcoming Austin Artworks Festival this Aug. 25 and 26. The paintings, drawn from a series called “Workspaces,” explore the interior landscape of the office and the range of everyday activities therein, from idle chit-chat to actual work performed by cube-bound employees.

Dankert describes his paintings as staring into ordinary, imagined moments to unfold the beauty rivaling the blankness of everyday experiences. For more information about his artwork visit jamesdankert.com.

See all the artists being presented at the Austin ArtWorks Festival at austinartworksfestival.org and come to the Austin ArtWorks Festival at the Historic Downtown Power Plant.