Today we’d like to introduce you to Don Longo.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
At the age of ten, my grandmother had died and I felt the need to help design her tombstone. It was accepted by the tombstone company and from that day on I knew, deep inside, that I wanted to be an artist.
Growing up in the small town of Lee, Ma, I was lucky to live near Norman Rockwell in Stockbridge.
I would ride my bike to the Norman Rockwell Museum to look at his paintings and occasionally ride over to his house to get a glimpse of him in his studio. I was intrigued by his ability to capture every day Americans on canvas. His paintings had an emotion that touched me inside.
I loved my art classes in high school and I couldn’t wait till I had a more formal education in art in college.
Once in college, my art direction changed a bit. It was not an easy decision as I still loved to paint but I decided to change my major studies to Physical Education and keep Art as my minor. After graduation, I moved to Texas to pursue a Master’s Degree in PE/Kinesiology and began my teaching career in the state. I did go back to college during the summer months at the University of North Texas to get my K – 12 teaching certification in Art so more positions would be available to me in the schools.
For the next 38 yrs. I worked as a high school PE and ART teacher along with coaching girls volleyball and boys soccer in various high schools in Texas from Sherman to Irving to Richardson. My last 30 years were in Richardson at J.J. Pearce HS were I taught various levels of art from Art I to Art IV in regular and advanced classes. Although teaching and coaching full time did not give me much free time to paint on my own, I did manage to produce a painting or two every few months.
I retired in 2017 to begin that part of my life that started way back when I was ten, to be an artist. We built a studio in our backyard where I now spend many days experimenting with new art techniques and processes. I built a website to display and sell my work along with various social media sites. I have displayed my work in a few galleries in the Dallas area and am currently under contract with a gallery in Houston, called The Jack Rabbit Gallery. I am so blessed to be able to have fun, create and see where colors, textures, and designs can take me.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Some struggles did appear early in my college years. I had a painting instructor with whom I had a different perspective on how to develop my talents as an artist. His ideas and processes of painting were not in line with mine. He was not very encouraging and had a profound effect on whether I would continue to pursue art as a profession. This is why I kept ART as a minor instead of a major in college.
Another challenge; I was a high school coach for my first 25 years of teaching. Coaching took up much of my free time but I knew it was the right path I needed to be on at the time and I would do it all again if I had to. The relationships you have with your players is second to none so painting took a back seat.
Another obstacle was that I had nowhere to set up shop my artwork. Painting in our kitchen or in a spare bedroom was not conducive to the creative processes. I always had to clean up afterwards, not let anything get dirty or stained and not have enough room for large canvases. This was remedied after retirement when we built a studio on our backyard.
What do you do? What do you specialize in?
I do sell my work through my website, through social media announcements, and through a gallery.
My website is www.donlongoart.com.
The gallery is The Jack Rabbit Gallery in Houston, Texas.
I love to work with acrylics and textures. I have always loved the tactile sense of paint and various mediums that build up textures in paint. I don’t just like to paint how a texture would look but to include some build up of textures to feel like it’s right there for you to touch.
I have spent my first couple of years of retirement exploring and experimenting with colors and textures in more of an abstract design. This allows me to go into a painting without and pre-conceived subject and see where it takes me. You do have to keep in mind a design format though so it’s not all just throwing paint on a canvas… though that can be wonderful too.
Now, I am going back to my routes a little more with realism but in a more abstract way with using textures.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I want to continue pursuing new methods of abstract realism. I have always loved landscapes as I grew up in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. Nature has always been a huge part of my life. It’s where I am grounded but there are many wonderful realist painters out there and trying to duplicate them is not a reality nor a desire of mine. Experimenting with my abstract painting techniques these past few years has allowed me to grow in my knowledge of colors, designs, and textures. I want to use this new knowledge and apply it to landscape paintings and see where it goes. Experimenting is always necessary to keep moving in the art world. I want to see what certain colors can emote, what certain textures can be applied and what certain designs can enhance my work.
PAINT! PAINT! PAINT! is my motto.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.donlongoart.com
- Phone: 9729556764
- Email: dljoseph55@yahoo.com
- Instagram: don_longo
- Facebook: Don Longo
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