Biography from AskART:
| Donald Archer studied at the University of California earning both undergraduate and graduate degrees in fine art. His painting are representational though they also have colorful geometric and abstract qualities. Archer paints modern day landscapes that incorporate things such as roads that are part of what we see every day.
Source: Southwest Art, May 2002
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Donald Archer grew up in Southern California during the 1940's and 50's--at that time an area of many orchards, dairy farms and rich agricultural fields. The light and space of California and the monumentality of its landscape has remained an integral part of his work. For Archer, painting gives meaning to life. He finds that painting is an activity of alert attention--like a cat stalking a bird--not a cathartic attempt to escape or relax.
During the forty years that Donald Archer has been painting, his close association with nature, his careful observation and quiet attention is an integral part of each painting. For Archer, the image begins with the landscape. However, more accurately, design and feeling are more the subject. He sees the adventure of painting as walking a tightrope between abstraction and realism, incorporating the best of both worlds.
Archer is known for his mastery of technique and composition. His water color media is unique. He avoids the rigidity of traditional approaches, combining tempera--and sometimes collage--with transparent watercolor. Archer layers washes, often as many as ten or more, and because he uses richly saturated pigments, his paintings, have the density, intensity, and solidity that one normally associates with oil paintings or acrylics.
Archer is a member of 'The Oak Group' 26 plein-air painters committed to recording and preserving the natural beauty of California. His work is included in collections, both public and private, throughout the United States and abroad.
Source: Johnson Gallery |
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