I have always loved art and the challenge of painting a three dimensional image on a two dimensional surface. I started drawing when I was old enough to hold a pencil and have continued to sketch and paint throughout most of my childhood and early adolescence. I have an affinity for interesting faces and landscapes. I feel like I have come full circle from those early years when my highest aspiration was to be an artist. I have always collected black art and surround myself with paintings, prints and lithographs from a wide variety of classical and contemporary artists, Pablo Picasso, John Biggers and Jacob Lawrence.

My recent paintings use black, grey and white colors in oil, sometimes with a touch of color, to produce powerful images rich in texture and expression. I am prolific and simply cannot spend enough time painting to satisfy my passion. A professional artist once told me it was like communicating with God and not to be melodramatic, I think he is right. You take a blank piece of canvas and over time, an image emerges from that canvas reflecting a vibrant vision of life. I paint not only because I love art but like breathing, I paint because it taps into my creative life force and enhances the quality of my life.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I am enjoying the journey.

Don O'Bannon