Artwork of the Week - 30th March 2015

John Donaldson - Lavender Time

John Donaldson started painting, exhibiting and selling his artwork at a young age. This was largely due to the guidance, training and encouragement of his Grandfather who was an English Impressionist artist.

John was born in Lewes, England in 1945. From 1962 he studied music  which is a passion that continues to this day. In 1975 he settled with his family in a rural valley in Devon and began to paint full time.

Today he directs his impressionist tendencies to the portrayal of fleeting light and weather effects. This, together with a general desire for greater spontaneity has meant that he has started to move away from the larger studio pieces towards smaller, more expressive works. These are more akin to the 'live' studies that were used to develop the studio work earlier in his career. He says, "Over the years, my sketches, studies and field work in general have become more 'abstract' in appearance. I suppose the more intuitive and personal marks made at the time helped me to remember not just the details of the subject but the feelings evoked by it."

John Donaldson's subjects have ranged from his early years' painting on the South Downs, the Ouse Valley and the streets of Lewes - via London's Thames, Cornwall, Devon and Dorset - to a more recent preoccupation with the Midi of France, Brittany, the Cote d'Azur and the Italian Riviera. He says, "I have a list of images yet to paint, as well as themes to revisit, enough to last a lifetime. Another lifetime."

He now divides his time between his studios in Devon and Southwest France where he paints watercolours and oils of the Mediterranean landscape.

Lavender Time is a beautiful hand embellished signed Limited Edition Print which has an edition size of just 195. This artwork is soft and full of light, depicting a relaxing sunshine view of the Mediterranean landscape. To view the full collection of Signed Limited Edition Prints by John Donaldson please take a look online at Union Art.