Featured Artist Donna Wise

Acclaimed Canadian artist Donna Wise presents a collection of colorful abstracts painted in large format. See more of her portfolio by visiting her website.

 

 

I am a self-taught artist Toronto expressionist painter. I was fortunate to be exposed to some of the most important painters of the day in the early 1970s. Artists such as William Ronald, founder of the influential Painters Eleven, who would regularly drop into my studio. Other notable artists who occupied studios at 77 Mowat were Michael Snow, Joyce Weiland and Sorel Etrog. It was an important and serious hotbed of creativity for me, early into studio.

 

 

From 1970-75, I was under the direct tutelage of abstract artist Ron Bloore. Ron was the founding member of the Regina Five and who also led the Art Sake school in Toronto, carrying his philosophy of transcendentalism into his art and his students.

 

 

These were heady years for me as an emerging artist. My studio became well known in Toronto and beyond with two solo shows annually. Sometimes it was a challenge to keep up with the production. In 1985-91, I was lucky to be picked up by the prestigious Montreal Gallery and The Shayne Gallery. I was one of their top sellers, having two to three solo shows annually.

 

 

Never one to rest, I became a very active and popular docent at both The Art Gallery of Ontario and The Royal Ontario Museum. My artwork appeared in prestigious art auctions such as The Canadian Opera Company, The National Ballet, Baycrest Hospital and Sotheby’s Auction for The Royal Ontario Museum. I also worked with Elaine Fleck of The Elaine Fleck  Gallery to produce a significant work of art for Nuit Blanche, the largest annual art event in Toronto.

 

 

I’m a member  of the Savvy Art Gallery in Oakville and the PassepARTout Gallery in Milan Italy. I am a past contributing artist at The Propeller, and Bougie Gallery in Toronto, and have been on the roster for Art Box for the past two years. My work was part of Fashion and Art week at The PassepARTout Gallery in Milan Italy, participating in four more exhibitions.

 

 

Currently I will be showing my art in online exhibitions in Art Basel Miami, New York and Art Basel in Zurich, CASA Del ARTE in De Palma. I will again be exhibiting in online exhibitions at The Andakulova Gallery in Dubai, The Nicolette Gallery in Berlin, and The Thomson Gallery in Zug, Switzerland. I’m a lifelong member of The Society of Canadian Artists, The Canadian Federation of Artists, The Colour and Form Society, The Ontario Chapter of CARFAC, underlining my dedication to my craft and the broader arts community.

 

 

My art is always about colour— always has been and always will be. Paint is my oxygen, my therapist and my muse. Colours are chosen with confidence, strength and conviction based on emotion. I paint on large canvases for a reason: true freedom.

 

 

My art is underpinned with circles. Circles are the ultimate geometric symbol. To me, they represent unity, infinity without a beginning or end. They provide for me my unending quest for discovery and hope. My intention is to encourage the viewer to appreciate but most of all to celebrate this life and our connectedness on this planet through my art. I want my art to make you breathe a different kind of happiness.

 

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