Testimonials:
(A page for people like me who, as a child, read ALL of the cereal packet when they had their breakfast.)
‘I love criticism
just so long as it’s unqualified praise.’
Noel Coward
‘Your painting brings beauty and great memories into our day to day life. It hangs proudly in our living room, receiving compliments from everyone who stops by. I asked you to paint this scene (of Skye) and you took time to ask why, and to delve into its meaning. When you painted it you weaved in the hope, awe and personal history that makes the scene so special to me and my husband. It looks incredible and will always be treasured. Thank you again!
Fiona Trevitt, London
‘Truly an amazing experience through social media connecting on a global basis - ‘the gulf between us’.
Lisa B Harris, Florida
‘Donna Louise Irvine is a talented artist who captures nature and landscapes with the eye of an expert but also one who cherishes its majesty. I am blown away by her expression of light and color. She takes it a step further by showing us her humanity as well. I love the person behind the artist as much. I enjoy the painting she sent to me all the way to California very much because it has a piece of her heart in it.’
Jodie Gualco, California
‘Donna has a unique style and is the only non-classic or famous artist I have an active interest in following, although I’m sure the non-famous status won’t last forever.’
Brendon Lancaster, London
'The painting is of a view I love and it’s a familiar and regular scene when either walking or driving to my home. The painting hangs pride of place in my sitting room and is well loved. Thank you so much for painting it. It captures the elements in Shetland perfectly and is truly beautiful.’
Janet Nisbet, Shetland
‘It truly is an honor to have this hanging in my home office where I spend hours each day. Every day it brings a smile to my face and draws me in to the place I love so much. A place among the trees and sun. Thank you, Donna.’
Rick Tyler, Maryland
‘Everyday I see ‘our picture’ in my living room…Scottish Art on Dutch wall…how amazing is that?Keep on painting with your beautiful style, and love and soul!’
Resie, Netherlands
‘I am very lucky to have one of Donna’s paintings, it is a beautiful piece. When I look at it I feel it’s like a portal and I could step into another world.’
Rowena, Tenerife
‘My painting is, ‘The Glen of Weeping’, a title which I think perfectly conveys the place’s melancholy and solitude it radiates. To me it always feels bittersweet being there which is a feeling reflected in Donna’s painting. In the end however, I’m never sad looking at it because I feel a sort of freedom imagining standing in that landscape all by myself hearing nothing but the wind sweeping the vast scenery and maybe carrying voices telling its tale from the past in beautiful Gaelic ballads. I’d describe the painting as majestic, powerful, otherworldly, caring, and proud.’
Florian Hoeh, Germany
“If you are buying from an independent artist you are buying more than just a painting or a novel or a song.
You are buying hundreds of hours of experimentation and thousands of failures.
You are buying days, weeks, months,
years of frustration and moments of pure joy.
You are buying nights of worry about paying the rent, having enough money to feed the children, the birds, the dog.
You aren’t just buying a thing, you are buying a piece of heart, part of a soul, a private moment in someone’s life.
Most importantly you are buying the artist more time to do something they are truly passionate about; something that makes all the above worth the fear and the doubt; something that puts the life into the living.
”
‘I so treasure my beautiful Nancy Mitford inspired painting. A very precious and meaningful possession, which I feel very lucky to own!’
Laura Thompson, London
The Story of an album cover
Pam Autuori photographed by Thom Kerr
“TOMI is the genre-bending creation of songwriter/producer Pam Autuori, self described as ‘Psychedelic Mom Rock.’
After going through the major label machine, Pam rebuilt TOMI from scratch - adding members Riley Bray (Bass) and Kevin Brown (drums).
”
Pam found each other over Instagram and had been admiring each other’s work for a wee while. Out of the blue she surprised me by asking if I would consider interpreting her new album that she had called, ‘Late Bloomer’.
The album is a love letter to her younger self and all the pain and joy of growing and learning in her twenties.
It moved me.
Even though I had reservations about whether I could fulfil a brief, I immediately agreed.
Pam had a very clear idea of how she wanted to blend the beautiful studio photographs she had taken by renowned photographer Thom Kerr with free, bold, painted flowers. I loved her idea and, inspired by my own interest in the Victorian art of floriography (sending bouquets where each flower has a meaning), I began work on the painting for ‘Late Bloomer’.
I combed through Pam’s lyrics and chose flowers that suited the emotions she sang about and made a painting that really is unlike anything else I’ve ever made.
I think working on this album has cemented for me the belief that, in the right circumstances, that art can be challenged and changed, and made more impactful by collaborating with other forms of artists, particularly when their talents are decidedly different from your own.
The final design (pictured above)is an original painting
on canvas using collage and mixed media. 2023