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Donna Ward
Growing up in Pleasant Hill and the surrounding cities of Martinez, Concord, Walnut Creek, Clayton and Pittsburg, Contra Costa County has always been home. I left the area soon after high school to attend college and explore the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay peninsula, but the unfortunate early death of my father brought me back home to family. My restless soul however caused me to continue exploring the entire bay area and I found a particular kinship to Oakland and San Francisco. It is here where my photography skills and my creative art spirit found resonance. I was gifted my first SLR camera at 14, but I had been collecting and assembling scraps and refuse since I was a young child. My mother asked me more than once why I was in the garbage and my answer was always the same, “looking for something to do”. It wasn’t until I started visiting art galleries in SF and Santa Cruz in my early 20’s that I found mixed media and collage art that I understood what I needed to do. My own artwork started there. My passion is equally blended between photography and mixed media art. I am currently a member of the Las Juntas – East Bay Artist Guild frequently showing my work across several local Pleasant Hill venues and participating in our annual Fine Art Show held in the Spring and Fall each year.
MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST
Category: Mixed Media; Painter; Photographer
Artist Statement
Please provide a brief description of your creative process, motivations, and inspirations:
I have spent my life trying to understand the yearnings inside of me. I find that to observe nature, and my environment helps me too identify the complexities of my own mind and spirit. It is from here that I am drawn to landscape, urban street photography as well as still life more than anything. The social fabric that surrounds me fascinates me and I understand that when I capture moments that I am drawn to and then share it with other people, they may see different things than I do, and they are affected differently than I am. This is important to me. To be able to capture or create something that has a very personal feel to me but evokes something entirely different to others is where I feel a contribution to society.
