Biography
Laura Donavan is a painter known for her Western surrealism. Born in Cocoa, Florida, she grew up surrounded by the excitement of NASA’s heyday and the lush flora and fauna of central Florida.
As a child, she spent summers at her grandparents’ ranch in Colorado, where she developed a lasting love for the mountains. While studying at the University of South Florida, she shifted her focus from veterinary medicine to graphic design and illustration, eventually transferring to the Colorado Institute of Art in Denver. There, she met her husband, Bill. Over three decades, they built a design studio serving both local and national clients, calling Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and northwest Montana home.
In 1999, the couple moved their business, two young sons, and a couple of dogs to their longtime home in Salida, Colorado.
Today, Donavan devotes herself fully to fine art. Her paintings pay homage to the animals, landscapes, mythology, and iconography of the American West. Each piece invites the viewer into a visual world of shadows and lore, storytelling and symbolism—a surreal snapshot that balances the real with the imagined. Donavan is represented by Wilde Meyer Galleries in both Tucson and Scottsdale, AZ.
Artist Statement – Laura Donavan I started painting shadows after a late afternoon walk with my dogs and their outlandish shadows. After that, those strange dark twins called for more attention. My paintings are inspired by Western mythology, campfire tales, dark, cool canyons, hot, cactus covered hills and rogue jackrabbits. I like to take the viewer into a world just sideways from this one—familiar, but off-kilter in the best way. My work isn’t about people. It’s about what the animals are seeing when we think no one’s looking: a donkey deep in gossip, a jackrabbit in the middle of a thoughtful conversation, cattle stumbling into inner peace. Not everything has to be serious. Sometimes it can just be fun. Painting brings me joy and keeps me out of trouble. I paint in oils and acrylic, utilizing mixed media backgrounds.
