An artist all her life, Donna started painting animal portraits in 2000.  Before that time she had tried most every craft there is but found she just wasn’t satisfied with crafts and really wanted to paint.  She bought her first box of pastels for a wildlife art class that was canceled.  A couple of years passed before Donna took out the pastels and began experimenting.  She quickly found that she loved the look of the soft pastels on velour paper which she uses exclusively as her support for her pastel animal portraits. 

Donna prefers to paint her animal portraits in soft pastels because she believes the pastels are better at showing the softness of an animal’s fur. Donna also paints animal portraits using oils on canvas as well because people often prefer the classic look and longevity associated with oil paintings.  (It should be noted that pastels have a longevity that rivals that of oils!)

Besides art, animals are also a passion for Donna.  And the best way to show her love for them is to recreate their images.  She believes that if you have a painting of an animal in your home, looking at it every day, you can’t help but love them.  Donna donates 10% of her profits to animal-related charities.

In 2014 Donna, under her author/artist name DJ Geribo, published her first book. Since then she has self-published three other books which can be purchased through her websites: www.DJGeribo.com and www.BBDPublishing.com.