Biography 
Don has been painting and drawing all of his life. Recently has he begun to produce paintings that are representational of his true artistic abilities. This is an accumulation of years of experience with colour and design as a graphic artist working as a freelancer with the advertising industry. During the 80’s Don worked in advertising agencies and design shops in the Greater Toronto Area producing illustrations, CD covers, Point of Purchase ads, pocket folders and collateral, plus full colour magazine and newspaper advertising.
That all came to an end in the early 1990’s – call it a mid-life crisis – and he never looked back. Instead, he painted when time allowed and continued to keep his drawing skills in good form. All of this time was well spent as you will see in the samples here.
“All of my life I have wanted to ‘be a painter’” he says. “I remember well attending art classes in the city of Woodstock Public Library when I was a kid. I had a teacher, Mr. Oosterman who was a local artist and inspired me to paint with gusto – and I did – and I loved it! I would load up that big fat bristle brush with poster paint and slop it on the sheet of cardboard box ‘canvas’ and try to get same impasto effects I had seen in the Group of Seven painters before.”
An art major all through high school, Don graduated from Sheridan College, Oakville Ontario Canada with a diploma in Techical Illustration and Design. It was after graduation that he moved to Victoria B.C. where he was offered an opportunity to work in an advertising studio with the Thornton Group. Although the job was great, the logistics of managing family and the long distance telephone bills brought him back to Ontario in a year or so.
Painting and drawing architecture and still life is an art form he fell in love with during a trip to Europe in 1982. He sketched and painted buildings and landscapes in Europe for the duration of a nine month excursion.
The countries Don visited were England, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel and Austria. In the past 10 years, he has been concentrating on trips within Canada to the Maritime provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and also the Muskoka region of Ontario.
It would seem by looking at these samples that his wish to become a painter has come true. Don creates striking oil paintings on canvas using bold warm colours with an intense light source. Still Life compositions are a favourite subject matter especially in the winter months when working outside is not always possible. Working in the comfort of his studio, he is able to position the subject endlessly and move the lights around until everything is just the way he wants it to be before beginning. Some of the work he does is commissioned but many of the paintings on display here are started using sketches done on location in Europe and here in Canada.
Don shows his work locally in the offices of businesses, cafés, restaurants and art galleries and is always open to new challenges in the way of commissions.
