Painting is best when I’m receptive to the scene—not imposing my personality or a fixed concept onto the scene, but allowing nature to provide the inspiration. I know that this will sound odd, but when things are going really well it feels as if I am tapping onto a source that guides me. It is inevitable that my paintings are subjective but my best paintings are a blend of nature and me.
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Donald S. Lewis Jr. grew up surrounded by great 19th and 20th century European and American paintings in his father’s art gallery, the Auslew Gallery where he acquired an eye for quality and aesthetics.
Don earned a B.A. in Fine Arts at Randolph-Macon College and then went on to obtain a Masters degree in Art History at the University of Virginia. After graduate school, Lewis published several articles on art history in national magazines and directed his attention toward maintaining his father’s gallery. In 1995, after 20 years in the art business Don retired to become a full time painter. He now spends most of his time in his studio in Virginia Beach..
