ARTIST BIO
An impressionist, plein air, and studio artist, specializing in acrylics. Subjects of interest are historical locations, landscape, nature, wildlife, floral, animals and occasionally people. Many works are based on travel experiences and natural settings that are captured by photography. I presently live in Buford, GA with my wife, Debra Yaun, that is also an internationally known artist with many published instructional art books. Our youngest son Kevin graduated with an MFA in painting and is also an internationally known artist.
My artwork has appeared in AcrylicWorks, Artist Magazine, International Artist, Modern Impressionist Magazine and National Oil & Acrylics. As of 2025, it has also been selected to hang in the MCMA Metro Montage (4 years) and Art of Georgia’s State Capitol Exhibit (3 years). The artist trio of Don, Debra and Kevin have exhibited together in several shows including Chastain Art Center and Studio on Tiger Creek (2 years). A highlight was a one man show in my hometown, at the Hazlehurst-Jeff Davis Historical Museum Society, exhibiting 23 works as well as prints and cards that was called “Back to Hometown”. It was a great experience for the community as well as me.
Art first became apparent at 10 years of age. Growing up in the small South Georgia town in the 1950’s & 60’s didn’t provide much in the way of art instruction. In the 5th grade, I made the decision that art would be the path to follow after seeing a school catalog from Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida. After graduating high school in 1970 and going to several schools; South Georgia College, Waycross/Ware Tech, Georgia Southern College and working for a brief career as a draftsman, I finally decide that the original idea of going to an art school was the ultimate educational goal. I graduated Ringling College of Art & Design in 1977 where I met my wife, Debra. We purchased 11 1/2 acres of land, heavily populated with hardwoods, in Hall County, GA, raised two sons there and still live in the same home since 1982. This is a source for many paintings.
The late 70’s and early 80’s were a tough time to get work due to a recession so painting was put away and worked as a graphic designer, then later graduated from Southeastern Center of the Photographic Arts. I was a freelancer for 10 years operating Foxfire Studio, a graphic design service. In 1995, worked as Advertising Manager with a manufacturing company and later became VP of Advertising. Even though I was no longer painting on canvas, the creative skills were always being utilized. In 2018, I took old paint brushes and paints out for the first time in approximately 40 years. The skillset was still there but better than before and in 2020 retired from my full time job and began enjoying my life long ambition, to paint. Later, I added a wood working shop to my home and started building my own frames with some woods being harvested from the family property. This adds to the creativity of a painting as the entire work extends to the frame.
