Donna continues to explore the fragility of beauty through its more delicate life forms – orchids, irises, hummingbirds, seashells, pears, a tree branch in bloom, a heron fishing or a tiny chickadee, for example.  She is constantly in awe of the hidden strength/perseverance of these seemingly fragile natural forms.  For her, it is a reminder of the duality of life – the frailty of mortality that we must all face, mirrored by the strength of spirit to celebrate and cherish this momentary vitality.

She graduated from York University in Toronto as a high school art teacher.  She also studied printmaking at Otis/Parsons Art Institute in Los Angeles and Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver.  She has been creating artwork for more than forty years.

She lived and worked in the greater Tokyo area in Japan for twelve years.  She has lived in Sackville, New Brunswick for over twenty-five years and calls it “home”.   She taught English as a Second Language to Japanese students at Mount Allison University for 15 years before retiring in 2020.

She combines elements of both Japanese and Western art through assemblages by drawing, and painting on a variety of papers and silk kimono collaged onto wooden boxes or panels.  Her work has been exhibited in Ontario, Nova Scotia and throughout New Brunswick.  She has been a member of the Art Across the Marsh Studio Tour since its inception over 20 years ago.