While living in South Berwick, Maine, at the age of 12, I attended my first oil painting classes in a little fishing shack in picturesque York Harbor, Maine with a crusty old painter by the name of Edwin Booth who taught painting to kids on Saturday mornings during the summer months.  The laughter of children happily painting and the distinctive smell of linseed oil remains one of my favorite childhood memories. The lessons were arranged by my stepfather, well-known cartoonist and advertising artist Wilbur Bullock, who was a strong influence on my desire to become an artist.  I owe so much of my success to him. Later in high school, I developed an interest in dry brush watercolors and was especially influenced by Andrew Wyeth and Winslow Homer but as a teenager in the late 60’s, art was not always my focus.

  After high school, I briefly attended the Art Institute of Boston and took courses from The Famous Artist School with a goal of becoming a commercial artist like my stepfather.  However, I left school to raise a family and after many attempts to find work in the advertising field, went to work in the sign industry in 1971.  In 1976, in an effort to reconnect with my fine art side, I enrolled in portrait classes at the Manchester Art Institute (now the New Hampshire Art Institute). The classes were instructed by well known New England realist, James Aponovich.

  In the early 1980’s, I began to experiment with acrylics and developed an interest in science fiction painting which evolved into aviation art by the late eighties. I began exhibiting my work at air shows and art shows throughout New England and in 1990, won purchase prize awards at both the Rochester Art in the Park Show and the Portland, Maine Sidewalk Art Festival.  Many of these aviation paintings are included in private collections all over the country.

  With the support of my wife Susan, 2001 marked the first year of exhibiting my work since 1990.  Susan and I began taking my watercolors to art shows throughout New England. The shows were successful and many of my paintings received awards but I felt limited by the watercolor medium and began to think of a new direction.

  In 2004 I took a giant step back to my first art instruction in 1962 by squeezing out some oil paints and reconnecting with the landscapes and seascapes of New England.  In 2005 and 2006 I traveled to Monhegan Island in Maine to study with nationally recognized artist, Stan Moeller, painting en plein air at locations around the island.

  In 2007 I made a dramatic change in my approach to painting which took many in the art community by surprise. Some thought my new direction was too radical and sooner or later I would find my way back to traditional painting. But slowly my work began turning heads and gradually I found that what I had discovered was my own distinctive painting technique which set my work apart from the mainstream. From 2007 to 2013 the technique evolved until in 2014 I put down the brushes and picked up a palette knife taking a major step toward perfecting the painting style you see today. My hope is that my approach to painting will continue to grow, evolve, and bring joy to those who view it today and for years to come.

Don's was represented by the Reinert Fine Art gallery in Charleston, SC and the Blue Heron Art Gallery in Wellfleet, MA (Cape Cod) from 2018 to 2023. After 5 successful and productive years in the galleries he decided to semi-retire. Don continues to display his work at various art shows in the mid west and the northeast. His studio is in his North Royalton, OH home that he shares with his wife Susan and their two mini-dachshund's Trudy and Sophie.