Meet Donna Isham of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Donna Isham.

Hi Donna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve been art making and painting my whole life, yet my foray into exhibiting my work as a fine artist didn’t happen until around nine years ago. How did I go from terrified and vulnerable to actually showing my work? Well here’s a snippet of the story.

I grew up in the San Fernando Valley. I was always drewing and painting, but I never considered this as a profession because I assumed everybody could do it. More than that, , I was terrified to put myself out there to be that vulnerable. My mom and I would spend weekends at LACMA on weekends to see exhibitions. I remember looking at Monet‘s Water Lilies, captivated by their quiet beauty; seeing Chagall’s La Mariée and marveling at his whimsical figuration; and being enthralled with the light in Cézanne’s Still Life with Cherries and Peaches.

Then off I went to UC Berkeley, where I studied psychology, art history, and film. After university, I spent weeks sitting in the career placement library researching what I could do as a visual artist, again, never still never allowing myself to imagine that I could actually be a professional fine artist. I decided to pursue a master’s degree in museum studies (a terrible idea) thinking I could work in a gallery or museum.

Feeling completely unfulfilled, I moved back to Los Angeles and became a costume designer and stylist. I could draw illustrations for directors, and no one had to see them or comment on my “artistic” abilities. I loved playing with texture,fabric, and color, and everything that goes into creating a visual story. I would endlessly dye fabric just to achieve the exact right tone for the clothing.

I then met my incredibly talented musician husband and went on to run his / our business as the Executive Director, while raising our four children. All the while I kept drawing and painting in secret, quite literally living as a “closet artist.”

After a lot of soul-searching and spiritual growth, I finally decided to tell my family. I asked them to come upstairs and not say a word. Naturally, the kids thought I was either dying or getting divorced. I started showing them some of my work I made over the years, and they just stared at me and said, essentially, WTF? “How do we not know this about you,” they asked, “when we know everything about you?” When I explained my fears and deep reluctance to put myself out into the world, we all had a good laugh.

Fast forward to 2017. I was searching for a gallery for a North Korean artist I was representing through my human rights organization, where I serve the president. Petra Wright, the owner and curator of Gloria Delson Contemporary Gallery said she would be happy to represent that artist and then asked to see some of my work saying “I understand you’re an amazing artist too. I’d love to see your work.”

The internal dialogue in my mind, wanting to run for the hills was quite comical. I don’t remember how long I hesitated, but eventually I pulled out my phone and showed her a few images. She looked at them and asked if I wanted to be in her next show, and whether I could six paintings to her gallery.

I said yes and then went straight to the car and started sobbing! No joke. Lookingback, I realize how much courage it took just to say yes, to finally put myself out there.. That moment marked the beginning: exhibitions, websites, Instagram, promotional tools—and a lot more painting followed.

I love people and am forever inspired by their individuality and beauty. I love this planet and how it stuns me daily and how the light dances differently during each day. My work is an attempt to capture that sense of awe, wonder and transformation, to hold onto those fleeting moments and translate them into something lasting.
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Since that point, I have gone on to do numerous solo shows and art fairs around the world, and my work is now in both private and public collections. And my journey is continuing as I write. Please come visit me at Intersect Palm Springs February 12-16, Palm Springs Convention Center, Palm Springs, CA and Felix Art Fair, Soulious Gallery from February 25 – March 1 , Hollywood CA. Looking forward to seeing and meeting you there! Cheers!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I think the obstacles and struggles for me were both personal and business related. The first struggle was to get over my absolute terror of being vulnerable and putting myself out there as an artist. Art is a very personal activity , and then when I wanted put it out into the world, I was nervous about what others would think. Foolish way to move forward in life because you can’t think about that. In fact, you can’t think at all you just have to do. I found that particularly difficult. Another struggle that I had was looking at my artistic talent and skill as a business and thus how to grow it as a business. There’s so much that goes into promoting oneself as an artist other than just painting beautiful imagery that I had to learn. Things like websites and Instagram and social media and marketing and promotion let alone shipping and receiving! And I’m still learning! But when I stopped taking things too seriously that’s also the fun of it.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Here is a link to some of my artwork I will be showing at Intersect Palm Springs in February

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14b-BzMoseuxMVcPxdnA_wxnGOkQnkSy9?usp=drive_link

and I will also be at Felix Art Fair at the end of February at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BqAwlQtvJuLXNSJiPO4Q92cRjFfbuv1c

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
•Follow your passion
•Cherish your imagination
•Create the future you dream of
•Find courage to persist
•Embrace the journey (as that’s all we’ve got)
•Inspire others along the way

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.donnaisham.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donnaisham/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itsDonnaIsham/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@donnaisham