Instructor Donna Grande

Donna Grande

Instructor

Oil Paintings, Acrylic, Pastel

An accomplished and intuitively inspired artist, Donna Grande’s work is an expressive journey created with acrylics, pastels and oils. Colorful designs articulate, enrich, and create a densely layered surface reflecting the mystery and beauty of our environment. Her paintings possess a sophisticated sense of color, unique design, and expert use of her mediums.

Donna is a graduate of Montclair State University and has a design degree from F.I.T. She also studied at the Art Students League of New York and has established a noteworthy career as an artist over the last 30 years. Donna has won numerous awards for her paintings, has been included in many juried exhibits and galleries, has presented numerous solo shows in the Northeast, and has been featured on NBC and Fox News.

Although the aesthetic and creative process is a personal one, Donna endeavors to create what was never seen before –something new and truly original. “The excitement found while working in the immediacy of nature leads one to joyfully express the myriad patterns of light and color. When you are held in this suspension you begin to lose yourself. It is as if the creative universe is at your side holding the painting tools with you. This is the inspiration that artists so often talk about.”

Strokes of oil, pastel or acrylic become an important compositional element, and Donna strives to let the paint move and react fluidly. Sometimes she asks, “What does this want to be?” She thus allows the painting to direct her instead of trying to control the outcome. She is often surprised by each piece and how she arrived there. This surrender builds a bond between Donna and each individual work, which is recognized by the viewer.

Using color as a vehicle for experience, gesture, texture and composition, Donna’s paintings provide a refuge from the day to day, and encourage the viewer to celebrate the physical and visual world which might otherwise be overlooked.

Always full of energy, emotion and surprise, Donna’s paintings can be found in private and corporate collections throughout the United States including the DiBernardo building, and Dai-Kichi. She has exhibited at the Capitol Building in Maine, Montclair State University, Bloomfield College, the Salmagundi Club and the National Arts Club, among others.