Delray Beach Artist: 2014

This is über coolio... Thanks to the very fabulous Jeanne Chisholm of the renowned Chisholm Gallery www.cricketscrush.com is featuring my hand painted chairs in their curated collections;

http://us3.campaign-archive2.com/?u=b3157d0970d6cf6bf9fa3e238&id=115ff68bb4&e=1b15364af0

Thursday, June 26, 2014

YES

Profile by Liam Crotty

“YES!” exclaims artist Dana Donaty.

In response to what, you may ask? Dana said this is her general response to almost anything in life — it’s her personal mantra and she has even permanently engraved a huge “YES” on the wall directly in front of her bed so it is the first thing she sees every morning.

As I got to know Dana while sitting in her studio at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District, it became clear how her mantra and her art are intertwined. Her highly vibrant and colorful paintings shout out possibility and creativity and, of course, they could only be created by a person with a personal ethos based on positive possibility.

Dana is my next subject in #YOUWOWME – the first ever photography project to combine portraiture and personal words of inspiration which are passed on to the next subject — i.e. a “pay it forward” of inspirational photography.

Dana, whose work is wonderful and inspirational, passes that one word “YES” to the next subject in the project.

click this link to read Dana Donaty 'You Wow Me' profile
http://www.liamcrotty.com/yes-says-artist-dana-donaty-youwowme-13/

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Visual Learning Presentation by Dana Donaty @ Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami, June 9, 2014

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Children's Museum Benefit !

Support the Miami Children's Museum, the Bakehouse Art Complex, and moi by purchasing one or both pieces for sale at this Benefit.

Please RSVP by June 17th at www.miamichildrensmuseum.org/afterdark l 305.373.5437.

Monday, March 31, 2014

There's a Whole Lot of Rhythm Going Round

There's a Whole Lot of Rhythm Going Round

United States Bicentennial, Jimmy Carter was elected president, bad shoes & Parliament Funk released 'Give up the Funk', thats how I remember 1976.

Funny the things we remember.

Give up the Funk was playing in my head while I was painting this. Not surprising, I have been sequenced to 1970's music for thirty nine years.

I do not possess rhythm in the usual way but I can feel it when I'm painting.

"Theres a Whole Lot of Rhythm Going Round", 2014

acrylic on board, 24" x 24"

www.danadonaty.com

#AwesomeArt #GiveuptheFunk #Artist

There's a Whole Lot of Rhythm Going Round

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

AND THE WINNER IS.........

First Things First

Thank You to everyone who put their thinking caps on and entered a title !

I went from struggling to name this painting to forty-four awesome choices !

And The Winner is....

'One Pill Makes You Larger' by Jeffrey Gillis

#White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane immediately played in my head and made me laugh a belly laugh. I instantly saw and heard the painting in action. A very clever song written by Grace Slick and released by Jefferson Airplane a year after I was born.

The elephant guru is handing out pills, the duck/bug is smoking something, logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead, the mouse is saying something and based on 'Alice's' foot size she is at least ten feet tall.

The song is now on a loop in my head , thank you Jeffrey !!
Jeffrey wins a 15" x 15" giclee on paper of 'One Pill Makes You Larger'

While there is no prize for runners up I do want to mention them

because they made me laugh

'Adagio Devant' by Karla Walter

Everyone does appear to be at ease in front, perhaps too at ease and such an elegant term for this mishegoss !

'Trippy Toes' by Debbie Alcala Albrecht

Tippy Toes, Twinkle Toes but never Trippy Toes....not entirely graceful but funny

and 'Just.Keep.Dancing' by Paul Fisher

I can hear the rabbit muttering sharp direction 'Just.Keep. Dancing' to the others, under her breath, hoping that if she just keeps dancing nobody will notice the the crazy hubbub kerfuffle

It was interesting to do this and I learned a little bit about how the work is perceived. #Fantasy popped up a lot. Many titles were #ballet witty and best of all they were all positive.

I don't know exactly what I expected but I'm very happy with the responses

Once again, Thank You !

'One Pill Makes You Larger' will be on exhibit Friday March 28th, 6pm-9pm at Paul Fisher Gallery, 433 Flamingo Drive, West Palm Beach, Fl

www.danadonaty,com

See full list of entries below

http://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-One-Pill-Makes-You-Lager/651954/1957957/view

Titles Entered
Adiago Diva

Adagio Devant

Veronica's Passage

Balletto di Infantil

Trippy Toes

Magic Steps

The Fanciest Footwork

In Deep

A Depth Retrospect

Dance Down the Rabbit Hole

Stepped in It

Fantasy Grounded by Golden Slippers

My Muses

Las Patitas Contentas

Dancers Fantasea

Pacific en Pointe

Fantasy Footwork

Dancerland

Pas de Fantasia

Danse Fantaisiste

Guache Devant

Happy Feet

Twinkle Toes Zapatos

Tutti Frutti al Rootie

Dancing Eyes

Let’s Dance with Miss Happy Feet

Arabesque Grotesque

New Rules Shoes…Dancin’ Sideways Upside Down on a Ceiling

Just. Keep. Dancing.

Dancing with the Sea

One Pill makes you Larger

Dancing Feet-ish

Just Ask Alice

Highly Interpretive Dance

What’s the Pointe

Underwater Ballet

Fancy and Free

Tiptoeing About

Dancing with Heart

Path in Life

The Life Dance

Pacific en Pointe

Let Your Imagination Dance

Dancing Eyes

Thursday, March 20, 2014

A Gurls' Best Drink, Veuve Clicquot

I recently painted a statue for Polo America's 25th Anniversary.

I posted some pics on Facebook and made a video but for those of you who know me, you may have been wondering where the hell are The Dahls !?!

Not to worry, Gurl Dahl got in on the action, enjoying champagne, polo players and a fast ride. Gurl gets her pony on !!

For those of you who don't know me, I'm a artist/painter who enjoys champagne, polo players, a fast ride and photographing my anatomical Dahls.

More about The Dahls

#AwesomeArt

www.danadonaty.com

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Put Your Funny Little Thinking Cap On & Get On It, Win That Print !

Name that Painting & Win a Print on Paper

The Dealio: I’m stuck on naming this painting & think there is a good possibility that you can come up with a better name than I. After all I've spent most of my energy painting it. The winning name is the name I think is the most awesome & that person wins a 15" x 15" print on paper of this painting.
Put your funny little thinking cap on & get on it !

I will announce the winner on this blog, Facebook & Twitter on March 26th

Please leave your title here or on Facebook or Twitter.

My Facebook is Dana Donaty

My Twitter is Dana Donaty

Names entered so far

Adiago Diva

Adagio Devant

Veronica's Passage

Balletto di Infantil

Trippy Toes

Magic Steps

The Fanciest Footwork

In Deep

A Depth Retrospect

Dance Down the Rabbit Hole

Original painting by Dana Donaty 30" x 30"

#FineArt #Painting #Artist #ContemporaryArt #Ballerina #ElephantGuru #Pareidolia #SaatchiOnline

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Name That Painting, Win a Print on Paper & Psychological Evaluations

I'm always surprised when there is a name for what I am doing (or a disorder I have) but I am happy when I learn it. Sometimes it feels like the name was just newly invented & I caught it on a cosmic wave.

My new word is Pareidolia as it relates to art ; In his notebooks, Leonardo da Vinci wrote of pareidolia as a device for painters, writing "if you look at any walls spotted with various stains or with a mixture of different kinds of stones, if you are about to invent some scene you will be able to see in it a resemblance to various different landscapes adorned with mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, plains, wide valleys, and various groups of hills. You will also be able to see divers combats and figures in quick movement, and strange expressions of faces, and outlandish costumes, and an infinite number of things which you can then reduce into separate and well conceived forms."

( like finding shapes in clouds)

My canvases begin with drips of paint, swipes of a palette knife and many wipes of a brush, all the remnants of the previous painting (see below) Prior to learning my new word I was describing my process as creating and taking my own Rorschach tests. The only part that was missing was the psychological evaluation and like cooking, I think thats best left to the professionals.

I recently completed the painting below and am a bit stuck on a title. I thought about calling it "Take A Pill" but thought it would be more interesting to hear what you think !

Name That Painting

Please leave you title here or on Facebook or twitter.

My Facebook is Dana Donaty

My Twitter is Dana Donaty

The winning name will win a 15" x 15" print on paper.

I will announce the winner on this blog, Facebook & twitter on March 26th

I can't wait to hear what you think

:-D

30" x 30" acrylic & gold leaf on canvas

my homemade rorschach test ( the beginning of the above painting)

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Champagne, Ponies & an 1:58 Epic Video Thriller

Sometimes a project comes along, your flat out busy, you've got very little time

but you squeak it in and crack it out because it will be fun to do.

The Polo America statue was that project.

As soon as I heard about it I thought,

"How AWESOME would it be for champagne to explode from the horses hindquarters " !

Of course I had to have a bottle or two of Veuve Clicquot to get the colors just right

......any excuse for champagne.....not that one needs an excuse

My polo pony's name is "Champagne Divot Stomp" & he was painted for an original polo art

exhibition to celebrate Polo America's 25th Anniversary.

On April 19, 2014 the statues will be sold in a charity auction at the Gulfstream Polo Club

to benefit the the injured Marine Semper Fi Fund

checkout my youtube video.......a one minute & fifty eight second epic thriller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLXquN3-tbU

The statue arrives in my studio !!

Veuve Clicquot Champagne cork popping

Friday, January 31, 2014

"Ed McMahon Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes Excited"

Post Office Bay, Floreana Island

My scrappy little 'paper' post card

The Madre, The Dahls & I went on an awesome trip to the Galapagos Islands in August. We visited Floreana Island where there is a long tradition of tourists leaving self addressed post cards with no stamp in a mail box at 'Post Office Bay'. Visitors are encouraged to rummage through the mailbox for a post card they can hand deliver close to where they live. This is all based on the postal 'service' used by whalers visiting that part of the world in the 18th century (see below for brief history). I didn't believe this postal system would work so I didn't bring a post card. At the last minute I thought "holy shit, this is so ridiculous it could work". I dug a scrap of paper out of my bag, made a post card & dropped it in the mailbox.

Today just 6 months later there was a knock on my door. Two women from Key West, Jill & Kathy were "in the neighborhood" and hand delivered it to me !!

I was all "Ed McMahon Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes" excited

It worked, it worked it worked....Awesome !!

Yayyyyy Whalers !!

The Dahls at Post Office Bay, Floreana Island. August 2013

Jill & Kathy from Key West delivering my post card. January 2014

Jill & Kathy with The Dahls !!

Brief History of Post Office Bay, Floreana Island

British Captain James Colnett in 1793 who placed a wooden post barrel and then spreads the word and talks about a mailing system where packages and letters can be left there and get picked up by a passing ship in route to such destination.

At the time whaling was a big industry, ships were typically gone for 2 years at a time.

The Galapagos Islands were a frequent stop for these ships. Outbound ships would drop off letters after rounding the cape and the ships returning home would mail them.

Soon Post Office Bay became a mandatory stop to all sailors passing through the Galapagos Islands. Floreana Island is best known for its colorful history of buccaneers, whalers, convicts, and colonists.

In this vast and remote Pacific Ocean, it was the only official way to communicate with relatives, friends and governments.

The system worked under a very simple concept: anyone could leave mail at the barrel, and a passing ship will collect it and deliver it later. Post Office Bay is probably one of the most famous sites in Galapagos.

At the time, the Islands were well visited by ships navigating the world's oceans, and chances of getting your mail around continents was actually quite likely to occur.

The tradition continues today as visitors leave addressed postcards without a stamp in the barrel and sort through left mail to deliver at home.