My husband Gerald and I lived in Saskatchewan all of our lives except for the wonderful 10 years that we decided to live on the ocean in Nova Scotia. We called 2007-2017 our extended holiday. Nova Scotia is where my creativity got reactivated. I originally started painting in 1978 so I could cover my walls with vivid memories of good times. I love taking pictures and, after a holiday, I would always find a few pictures that would inspire me to create a special painting for myself. With working full time and having three children, it left me very little time to paint. So, after we moved to Nova Scotia, leaving our three grown children behind, to live in a wonderful place with awesome scenery and many creative artists, I started painting full time. In 2012, I started selling my work and attending plein air painting events. In 2015 I opened up Donna’s Galley in Bayside, Nova Scotia, where I had my own blue sign out on the highway from Halifax to Peggy’s Cove, and was in the Doers and Dreamers tourism book and on Nova Scotia’s tourism website. After 10 wonderful years and grandchildren starting to arrive, we decided it was time to move back to Saskatchewan. In July of 2017, Donna’s Gallery moved to Buena Vista, Saskatchewan. Then in August of 2020, we purchased a quarter section of land on Fur Lake, in the RM of Canwood, near Mont Nebo, where we now reside.

I feel art is a very personal thing. In my paintings I like to capture a special memory or feeling. My home is full of paintings that I enjoy looking at each day, to relive holidays and create that wonderful feeling of peace and serenity. I especially like painting water and the landscape. These scenes makes me feel so in awe. I love the beauty of nature. I sometimes add family members to a landscape painting to make it more personal. I paint in both oil & acrylic, and I’m always ready to try something new and different.

Here is a little history of my painting career, which is mainly self-taught. In 1988, I took my first oil painting class, and in 1999, I attended the University of Saskatchewan; Emma Lake Workshop. Over the years I took a few more classes and continued to paint for myself. It wasn’t until 2012, I decided to take my painting to a whole new level.

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