Summer Morning, Mixed media on birch board, 12 x 12″
Reclamation Journal page, watercolor, 14 x 11″
Lunar Eclipse, Mixed media on birch board, 12 x 12″
Tufted Titmouse, Mixed media on linen canvas, 14 x 11″
As a passionate observer of the natural world, I combine symbolism and metaphor in varying sizes of mixed media works.
I have long found solace in these words of naturalist/writer, John Burroughs:
The lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is
“look under foot.”
You are always nearer the divine and the true source of your power than you think.
The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive.
The great opportunity is where you are.
Do not despise your own place and hour.
Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world.
The paintings here are from my series titled, ‘Reclamation’. My visits to my 50-acre tree farm retreat in the Virginia Piedmont inspire them. On this land, which I think of as a living laboratory, I celebrate nature and the burgeoning regrowth. I observe, track, and record the natural cycles as I consider the beauty of this healing environment. Each work of art fuses my discoveries with brilliant colors, textures, patterns, and symbols.
The result of this forest therapy forms my visual narrative. Within each work, I hope that you, a welcomed viewer, will accept my invitation to explore, notice and appreciate the world of nature and her wonder, perhaps inspiring you to adopt a fresh outlook as you walk your world.
Donna Iona Drozda
2023
Everywhere, the work points to a connection to nature and to inner spirit as a way to be restored to wholeness. Here is an artist who has faced difficulties, found her way and is sharing her miracles through paintings.
It’s the kind of art that rubs off…you can take it in like a dream, and let it work on you.
~Teresa Annas, Virginian Pilot