About the Artist

Don is a BFA graduate of East Carolina University and University of North Carolina at Greensboro living now in Southport, North Carolina. Southport is a small coastal town located uniquely at the junction of the Cape Fear River, Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. Many movies and TV shows have been filmed here because of its historic and quaint appearance, which is what inspires Don everyday. His deep felt emotion  for Southport and surrounding areas has been building for well over a half century. He expresses his creativity through nautical and landscape representational oil painting mostly these days, but in the past, he has included photography and stoneware pottery as part of his portfolio.

After being born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, Don spent thirteen years in the Pacific Northwest around Seattle. The breathtaking beauty there was no doubt inspirational but didn't stop his desire to return to the things he loved and cherished in North Carolina. The unique beauty of his home state - from the majestic Blue Ridge mountains to the unsurpassed never-ending shores of the coastal areas  - will be the source of his endless visual passion which inspires his expressive representationalism in oil painting.

Artist's Statement:

" I've always felt strongly about two things that drive and inspire my creativity. The first is the uncontrollable need to leave something behind that is meaningful to others (especially loved ones) that visually interprets the reason for my existence on this earth. The other is a deeply-seated belief that not using the God-given abilities for creativity is an enormous waste not to be forgiven. I feel that I have been given a gift to believe that it is a "Privilege to Paint". I first had lingering thoughts on this subject after obtaining a book with the same title written about my favorite professor, Francis Speight, at East Carolina University in the late 60's.  Dr. Speight was one of North Carolina's most endeared and respected artists. I truly cherish the figure-drawing classes and independent studies in which I was fortunate to be a part while there."