Don's
childhood exposure to art began to show itself in his photography about
40 years ago.
His mother was an excellent artist -- who sculpted, threw pots, and
worked with oils, acrylics and watercolors. She and six other artists
ran a gallery. When he was a teenager in the early 1960s, she started
the San Dieguito Art Guild in San Diego County. During those teenage
years, Don accompanied her to art shows and art museums where she
critiqued what they were viewing. At that time, Don had no interest in
art but obvioiusly absorbed her lessons. She would often talk to
him about what she was working on. His youngest
sister has been a professional artist: an outstanding
professional glazed-tile artisan throughout her life. Her
work
can be found at susanbeere.com.
When
he was in his 20s, Don unsuccessfully tried his hand at drawing and
concluded he could never be an artist. That changed in his 40s, when he
discovered his love of photograhy, and, in particular, his eye for
composition. Photography became a medium through which he could express
his artistic bent. He focused on nature photography for 15 years. A few
of these can been seen in his facebook page.That work has been juried
into shows. Over the next 15 years, his "eye" changed. Today he does
what he calls "Abstract Photography." He photographs shapes,
patterns and juxtapositions. A few of these can
also be seen
in his facebook page.
Don was invited to have a solo exhibition
at the Ethical Society of St. Louis in April, 2019. The thirty-two
photographs displayed fell into four groups: nature, abstract,
"Refections," and other. Of note are the photographs titled
"Reflections." Don and his wife Carole were moving from Minneapolis in
2001. On an early, sunny morning in late July, she suggested he
photograph the downtown area where they had lived for two years. Most
of his photographs are reflections in the windows of the downtown
skyscrapers. This series of more than 40 photographs marked a
significant transition in his approach. "These photographs taught me
the principles of abstract photography," he says.
Updated February 2020
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