Don Nicholson

From Software Systems to Painting Scenes

While maneuvering through a business career, traveling around the US and the world, Don Nicholson made sketches, took pictures and was able to do a few paintings along the way.  But he never lost site of his long-term goal of becoming a full time Artist.  Now, all those reference pictures and memories are coming out on canvases.   Paintings by DonN is happening.

"When I graduated from college in 1969, with a double major in Business and Art and a family to support, it didnt seem feasible to choose anything but the Business career path.  However, my first employer gave me an aptitude test and it said that my ideal occupation would be in Art Sales.  So I became a corporate financial executive and then started my own software integration company.  It took me a few years to get here but I finally feel that I am doing what I was meant to do." DonN says with his charming smile and a twinkle in his blue eyes as he describes the path he has chosen.

Don's paintings bring unique perspectives to recognizable streetscapes and landscapes that bring back memories for the viewer.  From his trips to Tuscany in Italy, he paints alleys that inspired him; in the streets of San Francisco, he paints his favorite restaurant in the Fisherman's Warf district; and from Italy, a unique look down the alleys and canals of Tuscany.  It is this unique perspective that makes Don's work different. 

Realistic drawing has always come easy to Don and he received several awards as early as grade school. But in college, it was geometric shapes with lots of color that was his inspiration and got his potential recognized in various art shows.  But awards and recognition are not the motivational factor that now drives Don.  Now, living in the Sierra foothills of northern California and back to producing Realistic Representational Art, it is a need to express his feelings for the places and people that have inspired him.  To make art and to find his voice and let it speak to all that will listen with their eyes.  To own a painting by Don is to own a slice of his experiences and passions that drive him to be the best he can be each time he lays an image on canvas.  Talent joined with passion is the secret you will discover in a Painting by DonN.