Donna Wilson is a Toronto based artist and attended the Alberta College of Art from 1979 to 1982 where she majored in Printmaking. She studied at The Art Centre, Central Tech for an additional three years with a primary interest in abstract painting. Donna has been exhibiting in juried solo and group shows nationally for many years. Much of her work is in private collections in Canada, England and Australia. She is a signature member of the Toronto Watercolour Society and a member of the Art Gallery of Ontario. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Neilson Park Creative Centre. She has given lectures, workshops and teaches art classes in Toronto, Ontario. She works from her home studio and continues to further her exploration and artistic development.
Through my work I want the viewer to think, feel, and dream while tapping into his/her soul. What does my art mean; and I ask you what does a bird’s song mean?
My work is nonobjective. It does not represent or depict a person, an object or a place. Essentially, the content of the work is its color, shapes, gestural brushstrokes, size, scale, and its process.
Playing with the elements and principles of art is part of my artistic journey into abstraction. I continue to develop my personal visual vocabulary. Although I consider my painting to be an act of spontaneity there is also a sense of control interacting with chance. “My canvas is a platform in which to play.”
I am inspired by such artists as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Cy Twombly, and Wassily Kandinsky and the Automatiste, like Alexandra Luke.