Artist Donna Richardson has been called a woman of vision from the paintings she creates to her philosophical view of life. Originally from Bexleyheath in the county of Kent, a southeast suburb of London, England, she grew up in a home filled with books, music and strong support of her interest in art from her parents. As a child she would firmly state "I want to be an artist when I grow up" and at the age of 12 when her mother took her to the Parthenon Art Gallery in Nashville, TN she will tell you that it was a defining moment in that room of beautiful paintings as she affirmed that dream of hers. The lovely coincidence is that several years later, Donna was in that same art gallery as a participant in a juried show, this time accepting an award for her own painting "Cloud Watching".

Her formal training came from studio classes at Brescia University and studies with one of her most influential teachers, W. T. Williams, a professor at Kentucky Wesleyan College. Both schools located in Owensboro, KY. She also credits many workshops and seminars with professional artists along the way to help reach her goal. Her love of painting continued to grow and she was soon in her own art studio, a place filled with interesting bits and pieces from butterfly wings, bird nests, interesting rocks, and shelves of books. At one end is a beautiful stained glass creation entitled "Sphere of Imagination" which she procured while her studio was but a thumbnail sketch on paper. This lady takes obvious delight in seeing ideas come to fruition.

In her earlier years as an artist, Donna shared her love of art with others as she taught oil painting classes and seminars through the Kentucky State Park system as one of "The Kentucky Heritage Artists". In the late seventies, art reproductions commonly referred to as limited editions prints were extremely popular and it was at that time that she and two dear friends and fellow artists Jan Anderson and Virginia Cummins founded the publishing company of Creative Source inc. where they published their own work and that of other artists. Exhibiting in national tradeshows offered many opportunities in the marketplace here and abroad for these artists in the twenty five years they operated their business.

Throughout her career as an artist, Donna showed great instincts for trends in the commercial world of art. It was a series of butterfly prints and owl prints in the late 70's which proved to be her successful introduction into the print market. In the early eighties she was the first, or one of the first artists, to introduce teddy bear images which won the hearts of the public and featured her English mother's childhood bear.  

In the early nineties, an image was placed upon her heart that impacted her life and that of Meagan Finley, the little girl who posed for the painting. It was a portrait of an angel with a Renaissance era influence, a dark toned canvas and layers of transparent glazes and it was called "Angel In The Garden". You might notice numerous titles have been given this piece as it was licensed through other companies.This particular work brought much acclaim to the artist and began a series of angel portraits plus an inspirational complilation of poetry entitled "Messages From Heaven" by her sister, writer Bee Ewing France. To this day she receives stories of how this angel has touched the lives of others and her heart is blessed. 

Donna has been fortunate to have worked with some of the most prestigious companies in the art and design industry including The Bradford Exchange, Bradford Editions, Ashton-Drake, Leisure Arts, Dimensions, Mohawk Home division, Avon catalog division and others. Currently the angel series is available on stretched canvas through Price Imports.

After she and her business partner Jan sold the publishing company in 2006 (Virginia had retired in 1995), Donna briefly thought about retiring but her love for art and design simply would not let that happen, With her experience in designing Christmas ornaments and collectibles for other companies, she decided to work on a smaller scale in her own studio and is now capturing treasured memories in print, on porcelain china ornaments, plates and other keepsakes for weddings or other special events. "It's great fun and I truly enjoy working with people". She continues to license her images and is available for commissioned oil paintings.

On a personal note, Donna enjoys music and singing in her church choir. She and her husband Michael are movie buffs and love to fly, they bought their first airplane before either of them had any flying lessons. Mike went on to attain his pilot's license, Donna mostly puttered at it and now laughingly calls herself Mike's 'flight attendant'. She likes to work outside in her landscaping which includes intriguing rocks, shells and driftwood from travels. "I even brought some rocks back from a trip to England albeit small ones" she laughed and then added, "Nothing from Stonehenge!"

Donna does various speaking engagements where she shares her testimony and is quick to give God her thanks and praise for the things that are close to her heart... her family and darling grandchildren, her church home, the supportive community where she lives and the incredible blessing of having a career that she loves.