How I Started Painting

I started drawing in highschool, when art class was basically forced upon me for an arts credit. I hesitated because I never imagined being good at anything visual. This class changed everything for me. My teacher saw something in me, and was determined to make me an artist. By the end of the semester, I was hooked. But ultimately, as I was finishing my undergraduate degree in fine and visual arts, I chose to go into architecture because I also really loved building and construction, and this still maintained a connection to visual arts. Architecture teaches me to express myself visually, to communicate ideas on paper for others to understand. Concepts such as composition, line weights, layers, colour, texture – all of these tools are consistently important in architecture as they communicate, in drawing, the complexity and order of build form. And they’re definitely not lost in art.  My husband and I love construction and getting our hands dirty and to date, we’ve renovated two homes, with plans for a third! Our first renovation was an old factory loft renovation and then later, we completely renovated our Toronto Beaches home from basement to third floor.

Throughout all of this, I always choose to paint as a creative outlet, and to create without any rules. Nature driven, I’m happiest when I’m outside or painting something of nature. What I love about watercolour is that it challenges my personality; which fights to always be in control of everything. Watercolour is mischievous but in a somewhat controlled way. It’s firmly confined by wet and dry edges, but within this boundary, it is playful and surprising. That is the underlying theme in my art. I aspire to create pieces that are playful and serene, offering some stillness when we need it most. I started my art business four years ago, painting in the evenings and weekends and have since grown my art business to include worldwide commissions, print collaborations with retailers and well as teaching art to others and helping others artists grow their own business selling art from home.

Moving To Mexico

Late 2021, our young family (we have two little girls named Camila and Elena) decided to embark on an adventure and we moved from our hometown in Canada to Mexico. My husband is from Mexico and we always dreamt of living abroad and teaching our girls about their other culture, food, language, family and so much. We’ve had a blast but we’re nearing the end of our time here in Mexico and plan to return back to the Pacific West Coast of Canada, the beautiful Vancouver Island and renovate and build our dream home.

This blog is a combined vision of all of these things and a journey into our future family plans! I started this blog with the intention to share my belief that a beautiful life is defined by an honest nature-based approach to how we build and move through our day and what we choose to focus our attention on. I hope that this blog can be an aid in your own beautiful life and home.

If you’re new here, I’m Donata Delano. I am the creative owner and artist behind Donata Delano Art. Aside from art related tutorials, tips and information occasionally, I also post recipes, crafts and out adventures living abroad in Mexico.

As for my business, as some of you know, I run my art studio out of our home. I have a dedicated room where I paint, package and ship all my artwork to you. If you’re curious about my daily life and how I run my business, I post often about my process, my studio and my work on my instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/donatadelanoart/
 

You can also follow along on Pinterest, where I pin all things design, decor, crafts style and holiday goodies: https://www.pinterest.ca/donatadelanoart/

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Thanks for being here!

Donata