Choose a Surreal Artwork
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Free print — Just cover postage
Surreal Artwork
Get a free print
Just cover postage
Choose your FREE A5 Print
Just cover postage
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Wandering Burden
Carrying more than you let on, and continuing anyway.
Carrying more than you let on, and continuing anyway.
It builds slowly — piece by piece — until what once felt heavy starts to feel normal.
And still, you keep going.
£15.00 FREE!
*Just pay £4.75 shipping & handling fee
Animals of Thieving Wood
Finding your place among those who don’t quite fit anywhere else either.
Finding your place among those who don’t quite fit anywhere else either.
Connection isn’t always found where you’re told to look — sometimes it forms quietly, in the most unlikely places.
Not perfect — just right enough to feel like home.
£15.00 FREE!
*Just pay £4.75 shipping & handling fee
Camel Mile Tea
The quiet act of taking care of yourself — even when everything else keeps moving.
The quiet act of taking care of yourself — even when everything else keeps moving.
It’s easy to move through life without ever really stopping to look after yourself.
A reminder that you don’t have to earn rest.
£15.00 FREE!
*Just pay £4.75 shipping & handling fee
Mightier than the Sword
The quiet battles that happen where no one else can see them.
The quiet battles that happen where no one else can see them.
Thoughts pulling in different directions, decisions that feel heavier than they should.
Sometimes the struggle is simply trying to keep order in your own mind.
£15.00 FREE!
*Just pay £4.75 shipping & handling fee
Art That Gives Form to How Life Feels
Hi, I’m Dan — I create surreal paintings inspired by the quieter parts of life most of us carry inside.
Most pieces begin with a small observation — something about pressure, responsibility, time, loss, and the way people quietly carry their lives forward.
Like most people, I’ve carried my own share of those things too. And when I reflect on them, I’m always aware that many people carry far more, often without even having the words for what they’re feeling.
I start with a feeling or a question, and slowly build a world around it, using surreal imagery to give form to things that are often hard to name. The goal isn’t to explain anything, but to create space for recognition — for people who don’t want to categorise their inner life, but simply see an image and quietly recognise themselves in it.
Art That Gives Form to How Life Feels
Hi, I’m Dan — I create surreal paintings inspired by the quieter parts of life most of us carry inside.
Most pieces begin with a small observation — something about pressure, responsibility, time, loss, and the way people quietly carry their lives forward.
Like most people, I’ve carried my own share of those things too. And when I reflect on them, I’m always aware that many people carry far more, often without even having the words for what they’re feeling.
I start with a feeling or a question, and slowly build a world around it, using surreal imagery to give form to things that are often hard to name. The goal isn’t to explain anything, but to create space for recognition — for people who don’t want to categorise their inner life, but simply see an image and quietly recognise themselves in it.
I offer a free print simply as an invitation into this world.
Art lives differently when it’s in someone’s home rather than on a screen. It becomes something you notice in passing, something that changes slightly as your own thoughts and moods change.
This isn’t about promotion or obligation. It’s just a way of sharing the work with people who feel a connection to it, and allowing the relationship to begin quietly, without pressure.
How the invitation works
Simply take a moment to explore the available works.
Choose the print that speaks to you (one per person)
Cover the cost of postage and careful handling (£4.75)
Your print will arrive within 14 working days
If you have any questions at all, feel free to reach me at :Dan@mindshafts.com
If it doesn’t feel like it belongs with you
Sometimes a piece of art looks right on a screen but feels different when it arrives in real life. If that happens, just let me know and I’ll refund the postage and handling cost.
You’re welcome to keep the print or give it to someone else who might appreciate it more.
This is meant to be a gentle invitation into the MindShafts world — not something you feel stuck with.
About Dan
Dan is a surreal oil painter from eastern England and the person behind the MindShafts world — a growing collection of strange, story-driven works shaped by inner life, quiet observations, and the feelings that are often hardest to put into words.
He tends to spend a long time on each painting — often well over a hundred hours — building them slowly by hand until every part feels right. Each finished piece is then signed with his pseudonym, Dle3, a small signature often affectionately referred to as the “happy swan.”
Outside of painting, life is usually a mix of new ideas, unfinished thoughts, and trying to keep up with his energetic daughter.
Copyright Dan Lee | MindShafts 2026