Donna Greenstein;no bird of a featherby Wendy Soloduik A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. ~ Chinese Proverb King artist Donna Greenstein was born in Guelph and grew up in Etobicoke. A self-proclaimed “horse nut”, Donna began sketching the graceful animals when she was only four-yearsold. Now retired, Donna has returned to her roots as an artist and is once again capturing images on paper. This time however, the subject of her fascination is birds. “As a child I rode, and read horse books, but I especially loved drawing horse pictures,” says the artist. “I was one of those, you know, horse girls. Since retiring I have been able to spend more time creating once again. I realized that I had been collecting books on birds for many years, so I have refocused my attention on avian art.” In the years between childhood and retirement, Donna completed a B.A. at York University and a B.Ed. at the University of Toronto. In 1976, she was married and moved to a 50 acre farm in King Township where she and her husband run an organic cow-calf operation. In 2001 Donna retired from teaching and spent two years knitting. “I just knit for myself and for my family. Sweaters, mittens, hats, whatever,” Donna explains. “That was my creative outlet.” In 2003, Donna set down the knitting needles and picked up a paintbrush. After taking lessons, Donna had a better direction for her work, and an interest in painting with accuracy in form and colour had surfaced. “I prefer to paint with a lot of
detail, as opposed to big and
loose,” outlines Donna. “I had
found my style.”Initially, Donna painted
mostly fruits and vegetables, but
as her ability developed so did
her choice of subject matter. Still
in the early stages of developing
her talent, Donna began painting
watercolours of local flora and
fauna, and her talent blossomed.
“I use brushes known as triple
zeros to create the finer details in
my work,” Donna explains, noting
that “most” artist use a size Gaining notoriety for her work, Donna has joined several local art groups, including Kaleidoscope and Art Society King (ASK). When the Kaleidoscope Group chose ‘Birds, Butterflies and Blossoms: a Visual Exploration of King Township’ as their 2009 show theme, Donna switched her preferred subject matter to feathery friends. “My two passions are birds and art so consequently I combine them into watercolours of birds now,” Donna explains. “I’ve always been interested in birds. I’ve fed them and been putting up houses for them for over thirty years. We have Wood Duck houses and a bluebird trail on our property, and I’m also a member of the Ontario Eastern Bluebird Society.” Donna’s goal is to continue fine-tuning her art, aiming for a “photo-realism” outcome. “I’ve taken so many courses now, I want to cut down on the number of courses I take and just paint!” explains Donna, who is able to complete one of her smaller pieces in six to 12 hours. “My paintings are very labour intensive. The smaller the brush the faster the paint dries and the faster you need to work. So I find myself working late into the night a lot, when I can give my full attention to what I’m doing,” Donna confesses. Donna, who also runs a kennel
(in her spare time!) has
exhibited with the King Studio
Tour and King Museum,
Skylight Gallery in Aurora,
Daniel’s Restaurant in Nobleton
(currently on display), The Aird
Gallery and Canada Blooms. In
2008, she won Best-In-Shows
for the Ontario Horticultural
Association AGM and the
Schomberg Horticultural Fair Art Donna was the treasurer of Botanical Artists of Canada for four years and is the current treasurer of Schomberg Horticultural Society. Donna Greenstein’s paintings are all originals, painted on 300 pound Fabriano hot press paper. Her images range in size, from 12”x12” to 2’x3’, and in price from $150 to $350. |
2009 - art shows:Feb 26 to April 20:
For more information on Donna Greenstein visit her on the web at:
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