After graduating from business college, Donna studied advertising design and illustration, preparing for a career in commercial art. Donna operated her own design company for over 12 years and has enjoyed an award-winning 25-year long career in commercial graphic art, advertising, and design; working primarily for advertising agencies, print and design firms within the pharmaceutical industry. Donna earned local and national recognition, winning many graphic design and print awards. Throughout her career painting remained a strong focus in her life. Donna worked in pen and ink for years. She loved the challenge of creating detail in light and dark values with each individual stroke and cross-hatching mark. Longing for a medium that would still allow the fine detail but add color, Donna discovered colored pencil. Retaining the cross-hatching and layering effect, she incorporates ten to fifteen colors to build bold yet sensitive color values. This attention to detail and values is also carried over to her latest pastel works. Donna's realistic paintings are imagined, planned, and executed in a representational realistic style. Her portfolio is impressive in its depth and scope of subject matter, ranging from still life's that take a close-up look at the beauty of ordinary objects, to landscapes that capture the grace and rhythms of nature. Donna is a charter and signature member of the CPSA (Colored Pencil Society of America) and (two) time president of the North Carolina District Chapter of CPSA. Donna is also an active member of the Pastel Society of North Carolina. She was a member of the NCDI (North Carolina Designers/Illustrators Association), the WVAA, (Wake Visual Arts Association), and has served on the board of directors for the Wake Forest Cultural Arts Association.