I am Donna Pellegata, a portrait artist and children’s book illustrator. I live in the beautiful state of Michigan where the spring melts your heart, summer is filled with cookouts, water sports, and horseback riding, fall is a multi-colored sight to behold and the winters are usually icy, white and as cold as a...
well YOU know...
Over the past 28 years I have created numerous works of art for residential and commercial sites at home and abroad. These works include murals, finishes, portraits, commissioned paintings, hand painted furniture, floor cloths, jewelry and lampworking.
I paint MANY commissioned pastel people and pet portraits but frequently make a beeline towards acrylics, watercolors and pen and ink. I like altered, collaged, folk artsy kind of stuff lately so I just follow my passion with what medium entices me. I use to paint oodles of murals but as the houses get bigger and the ceilings get taller (and I get older), I have become more afraid I'm going to crack my noggin, so now I stick close to the ground, creating much of my art in my studio. Every once and awhile I’ll go with a special request for a smaller mural if it fits in my schedule. I also like to dabble with lampworking and sometimes go off on a full fledged torch tangent, depending on my mood...
I am currently collaborating on a children's book entitled "The Harp Mouse Chooses Her Home: The Adventure Begins." I'm creating the illustrations while harpist and author Diane E. Dunn strings her pearls of eloquence from page to page for children to enjoy. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE working on children’s book illustrations!!! I currently have two additional children’s books in the works after this one! Please feel free to discuss children’s book projects (or any commission) with me ANYTIME! You can read more about my art affairs, antics and anthologies here…
http://donnapellegata.blogspot.com/ (click blog link/tablet icon in header) You can view all of my important links and see pertinent information about upcoming shows and children's books here.
Photo of artist above taken courtesy of Gerry Pas for the Artist's Project, see his link on my blog for more information on his work