Donna Brown (continued) -

As a child Donna liked to draw. People observed that she
had a remarkable ability to draw what she saw. But they
offered little encouragement. In the late ‘60s everyone was
looking for the things that had importance. Donna’s gift
for drawing, it seemed, served no particular purpose. And
so Donna was drawn to organic farming, environmental
protection efforts and even a short stint as a weaver. These
things were important, functional and made a contribution
to the world.

Almost by accident Donna then met an artist who would
change her life. At the age of 27, just for the fun of it, she
enrolled in an adult evening class on life drawing. The
woman in Vermont who taught the class said simply you
could not be in the class unless you planned to take it
seriously. That meant you had to work at your art every day
and you had to put your heart and mind into the process.
Donna says this teacher wanted her to make a commitment,
something Donna had avoided doing out of fear that her
efforts would not matter. And so Donna took a chance that
it would work out -- a chance she continues to take every
time she begins a new piece or begins exploration of a new
medium.

Ten years ago Donna and her husband Errol moved to
Door County from Portland Oregon. Both had ties to the
Midwest; Donna was born in Kansas City and Errol grew
up in Wisconsin. After traveling extensively and living in
a variety of regions they wanted to return to the Midwest
because they liked the people and the seasons and wanted
a peaceful place to raise a family. The rural environment of
Door County combined with its stunning physical beauty
made this an attractive choice. Donna opened her White
Barn Gallery on Highway 57 just north of Baileys Harbor in
1994. Since then she has established herself in the area as a
respected artist, a teacher, an arts community leader, and a
catalyst for the growth of interest in printmaking in Door
County.

Donna believes “those who are serious about art must
think philosophically about what they are doing.” She ties
her personal philosophy to questions about art that have
circulated for centuries.

Some believe that the value of art lies in its ability to
accurately and beautifully represent objects in the natural
world. A still life that makes a two-dimensional figure
appear three-dimensional causes wonder and admiration. If
one is moved to want to taste the pear in the bowl, or smell
the flowers in the vase on the table, one has experienced
good art.

On the other hand there are those who believe it is the
way things are seen, the choice of things to see that offers
a visual language for invisible states of mind. Art by this
definition is a vehicle for understanding both the artist and
oneself.

Donna says art is her tool for making sense of the world.
“I explore the world around me visually. When I see
something that strikes me emotionally I begin to visually
appraise it, attempting to depict its essence. Sometimes a
careful rendition allows me to understand more about a
subject. While at other times, less is more: leaving room for
the viewer to become involved.”

For Donna each piece of work is a journey of its own.
For years Donna worked primarily in watercolor. She has a
significant following of people who are mesmerized by her
willowy irises and her boisterous fall flowers. In more recent
years Donna has begun exploring printmaking as a medium
of expression. She says each method she employs contains
an element of surprise. “You never know for sure where the
struggles will be. The preliminary work in gaining control of
the medium is crucial. Sometimes it takes hours and hours
to rework and rethink what you are doing. When a painting
is working well you are totally into it. There is a sense of
captured energy, a creative flow. It is a non-egotistical space.
When you finish you stand back in awe and you are pretty
sure you could never reproduce what just happened.”

Paradoxically however, Donna says the work does not end
with her. It is the observer that completes the process. Just
as a musician plays for an audience, so she offers her work
to her patrons for their response. “A piece is never finished
as long as someone is still looking at it. I distill my work
so that the viewer can enter and make some completion or
choices as to its meaning or value to them.”

Another philosophical debate about art raises the
question: is art what you do for a living or is art what you
do for a life? When Donna started exploring printmaking
it was with the intent of freeing up more of her time to
experiment with watercolor. She hoped printmaking would
allow her to more easily create multiple art originals that
would financially expand her income. Then she could take
time to experiment, take risks, and imagine new possibilities
with watercolor. To her surprise the opposite happened; she
became totally intrigued by the possibilities printmaking
offers for making images.

Donna says learning printmaking has been an exhilarating
though daunting process not unlike when she began to take
her art seriously. It requires staggering humility, a healthy
dollop of vision, a lot of hard work to develop the technical
expertise and once again a commitment to live as an artist
-- to take a chance that what she does might not work out
or really matter.

By traditional standards she does not consider herself a
true printmaker, often using printing simply as a component
of a work. She will combine monotype, relief or intaglio in
a painting to stir excitement. She says she is relentlessly
drawn to the element of surprise that happens each time
she removes the paper from a plate. She is intrigued by the
unique textures inherent to the medium, the reversal of
imagery and the many variations one can explore to create a
cohesive body of work with similar yet individual nuances.

The main problem with printmaking according to Donna
is that it requires expensive equipment that takes up space.
She had neither the money nor the space so she wrote
several grants to garner support. Fortunately, Donna earned
grants from the Peninsula Arts Association (PAA) allowing
her to experiment with the newest nontoxic forms of
etching. Due to her enthusiasm for the medium Donna
has gone on to become a stimulus for the exploration of
printmaking in Door County. With the support of the PAA
and the Peninsula Art School she is using her expertise and
enthusiasm to broaden the understanding of printmaking
as an exciting, contemporary medium through workshops
and demonstrations.

“The ultimate reward for my work is to have people
value what I do and to buy my work.” It is not surprising
that Donna has found a substantial audience for her
printmaking as well as her watercolors. And so, once again,
her art has become what she does for a living as well as what
she does for a life.