Donna Lee Nyzio

I was born in Rhode Island, but grew up in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, a small town near the coast, between Providence and Boston. I attended a regional high school with a serious arts program in a time without the Internet, cell phones, and all of today’s groovy gadgets. So I actually went out and played, painted, and created. Although I went to college and earned a BFA from Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA, it wasn’t a good fit for me. My work was not in line with the abstract expressionism that was happening at the time. I am a painter who loves realism. Being a representational oil painter, I work in a traditional manner with knives and brushes applying paint to wooden or clay panels. This type of panel is resilient and are easier to store, frame, and show in a high-humidity coastal environment than canvas or paper. I apply hand ground Vasari pigments from New York with high quality brushes from England. My materials are the best I can find so I can create the best possible paintings that will last
more than a lifetime.  When I create a painting, I like to use bold shapes and a subtle color palette. I am happiest
with a balanced composition, however oddly I make it balance. I paint local seascapes and maritime subjects around the Crystal Coast of North Carolina where I now have a studio.  But I can be found investigating the coast, painting plein aire as far north as Maine, haunting Southern New England, and the cruising Chesapeake Bay. Lately, you can find me on the Barrier Islands of the Carolina's and Georgia and in 2021, Nova Scotia, Canada.
   When someone sees my work, I hope they feel it. I want my paintings to be comfortable, like good shoes or old jeans. Hopefully, they observe my painting and settle into it, visiting and re-visiting it as they would an old friend.