In the 30 years at Nortel, Donna held various positions including the manager of the Technical Writing & Illustrating dept. Early retirement, has allowed Donna to devote more of her time to painting. Donna is a member of the Foyer Gallery. She is also an active member of the Nepean Fine Arts League (held position as president). Her passion for painting now absorbs her on many fronts; working on her Fine Arts Diploma at St Lawrence College, participating in workshops, and entering exhibits and sales.

She has exhibited in the Homestead Gallery near Kemptville, the Artworks Gallery in Merrickville and the owaa Gallery in Ottawa. Her works were accepted into the 2nd annual Mayor’s Art Festival in Ottawa. She has been juried into numerous exhibits: The TAG annual juried show, the Salon Prize, the Marianne van Silfhout Gallery, Centrepointe Theatre Gallery, Kanata Civic Art Gallery, and Britannia Art Gallery. Her works have also been in Figureworks, the Atrium Gallery, Studio Gallery, NFAL Gallery, Ottawa Little Theatre, Carleton University, Nepean Museum, Artscene and the Tulip Festival. Her paintings are in private collections in Canada, USA, Switzerland, South Africa and St Helena.

“I take numerous photographs and then painstakingly search to find the one that captures my interest. This is true whether I’m painting flowers or people – to me they are all ‘portraits’. My floral paintings are influenced by the late Georgia O’keefe. The close up image brings the viewer a dramatic perspective that evokes an emotional response. My people portraits emulate the play of lights and shadows reminiscent of the old masters like Caravaggio.”