Donna Aldridge Studios | Artist's Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Donna Aldridge PSA, M-MAPS is an international award-winning painter with works in galleries and private and corporate collections in twenty five countries.

She is well known for her broad, spacious landscapes and luscious still lifes, and continues to enjoy painting the figure and portrait.

She is fluent in a broad range of mediums, though has focused works of recent years primarily in pastels and oils with occasional work in digital.

Color—in fascinating relationships—excites her most, played out on the foundation of an elegantly-engineered composition with dynamic movement and balances which lead the viewer on a journey through each piece.

A strong sense of light and shadow or atmosphere as well as richly-applied pigment are additional hallmarks of Aldridge’s award-winning paintings.

She is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America and the first member of the MidAmerica Pastel Society to be awarded Signature and Master Pastelist status.

Aldridge is a co-founder and immediate past president of the MidAmerica Pastel Society and continues to serve as editor of their popular newsletter.

Aldridge has been quite active in the community, having served on the boards of charities and other Kansas City, regional and national organizations, in several groups as president.

She was awarded the Alumnae of Distinction by William Woods University in 1984.

In addition to her studio work and painting commissions, she teaches several regular classes in her studio in Overland Park, KS, conducts special painting workshops plus tutors privately while writing articles and a book on painting.

For additional biographical material, please see Articles below.

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SELECTED RECENT EXHIBITIONS

Juried Competitions and Awards

Third Annual Plein Air Painting Event, Regional/Kansas City—
Best of Show , June 2003

Roses Spilling over the Trellis-Arch Oil 39"x27"
Related news articles below, please click here

Second Annual Plein Air Painting Event, Regional/Kansas City—Second Place Award , October 2002

Pastel Painters of Cape Cod For Pastels Only on Cape Cod Annual National Exhibition, Chatham, MS—Art Spectrum Award, August-September 2002

La Fond Galleries 8th Annual National Juried Pastel Competition 2002, Pittsburgh, PA, May-June 2002

Southeastern Pastel Society 2002 10th International Show at Quinlan Visual Arts Center Gainesville, GA—Honorable Mention, May-June 2002

Boulder Art Association 11th National Juried Exhibition and Sale 2002—First Place Award, Boulder, CO, April 2002

Pastel Soc. of the West Coast 16th An. International Open Exhibition Roseville, CA—Clark Mitchell Award, April-May 2002

Wichita Center for the Arts The Pastel National 2002, Wichita, KS, March/April 2002

The National Sixth Annual Heartland Artist Exhibition, Merriam, KS, March 2002

International Museum of Art Sun Bowl International Juried Open Competition, El Paso, TX, November 2001-January 2002

Pastel Society of New Mexico National Pastel Painting Exhibition—Terry Ludwig Pastel Award, Albuquerque, NM, November 2001

The American Artists Professional League 2001 Grand National Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York City, October/November 2001

Connecticut Pastel Society Renaissance in Pastel National Exhibition—Grumbacher Gold Medal Award, October 2001

Art from the Middle, Art from the Plains States 2001 Regional Art Exhibit, Erman B. White Gallery, El Dorado, KS, September 2001

Septemberfest IV International Juried Art Exhibition, Period Gallery in Omaha, NE, September 2001

Pastel Painters of Cape Cod For Pastels Only on Cape Cod Annual Nat. Exhibition, Chatham, MS—Canson/Talens Award, September 2001

Audubon Artists National 59th Annual Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York City, September 2001

Pastel Painters of Ontario Sixth Annual Art International Exhibit in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada—Third Prize, August-September 2001

Plein Air Painting Event, Shawnee Mission Park, Regional/Kansas City—Best of Show for Body of Work , June 2001

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Solo and Group Exhibitions

Solo Show—Interior and Exterior Landscapes, The SpotLight Gallery, Unity Church of Overland Park, OPKS, February-March 2003

Solo Show—Large Oils—Painting the Midwest, The Source Fine Arts, 4137 Pennsylvania, Westport, KCMO, October 2002

Invitational Show, The Dunklin Street Gallery in Jefferson City, MO, September 2002 thru March 2003

Invitational Show, Pastel Paintings at Asiana Art & Antique Brokers, 4504 State Line, KCKS, September 2002

Unveiling of Portrait of R.G.Aldridge by Donna Aldridge at Aldridge Hall, William Woods University, September 8, 2002

MidAmerica Pastel Society Members-Only Juried Exhibition at William Woods University Fulton, MO, August-September 2002

Pastel Artists of South Australia Joint Australian/American Pastel Exhibition, Hughes Gallery, Fullarton, AU, May-June 2002

MidAmerica Pastel Society Members-Only Juried Exhibition at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Arts, St. Joseph, MO, April-June 2002

Previous Exhibitions and Awards

Pastel Society of the West Coast National Open Shows, Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Sacr., CA, Handell Award

Degas Pastel Society Biennial National Exhibitions, New Orleans, LA

Allied Artists of America Annual Exhibitions, National Arts Club, New York, NY

Allied Artists' Professional League Grand National Exhibitions, Salmugundi Club, New York NY

Kansas Pastel Society International Annual Exhibitions, Wichita, KS, Purchase Prize

Pastel Society of America National Annual Pastels Only Exhibition, National Arts Club, New York, NY

Société de Pastellistes de France International Annual, Lille, France

Knickerbocker Artists Grand National Annual Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY, Silver Medal of Honor for Pastel

Colorado Springs Art Guild Juried Fine Art Shows, CSAG Art Gallery, Colorado Springs, CO

Solo Show, William Woods University, Fulton, MO

Solo Show, Park College, Parkville, MO

Solo Show, Segno Graphico, Venice, Italy

Solo Show, The Source Fine Arts, Kansas City, MO

Aldridge/Sudlow Dual Show, American Legacy Gallery, KCMO

Aldridge/Saylor Dual show, The Source Fine Arts, Kansas City, MO

West Art, Colors & Planet Art, Art Collectors Gallery, Tulsa, OK

American Legacy Gallery, 1984 through mid 1993

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Mid Four Exhibitions, KCMO

Other Group Shows, USA - Europe, 1970 to present

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ARTICLES ABOUT DONNA ALDRIDGE

"Painter engineers winning landscape"
The Sun July 3, 2003 ~ Feature Article
Overland Park, Kansas

To read the article, please click here

"'Roses' are First"
The Kansas City Star July 3, 2003
Kansas City, Missouri

To read the article, please click here

"Featuring . . . Donna Aldridge"
Shades of Heartland ~ Summer 2003
The Heartland Hosta & Shade Plant Society Newsletter
Metropolitan Kansas City

To read the article, please click here

"Create a compelling still life with basic techniques"
The Pastel Journal ~ Jan/Feb. 2003
Albuquerque, New Mexico

"Storing, Matting, Framing and Shipping Pastel Paintings"
Several Artists Sharing Their Experience and Suggestions
The Pastel Journal ~ Nov/Dec. 2001
Albuquerque, New Mexico

"Father's Portrait Finally Comes 'Home' to WWU"
The Woods • Fall/Winter 2002 ~ William Woods University
Fulton, Missouri

To read the article, please click here

To view the full portrait of R.G.Aldridge at Aldridge Hall, please click here

William Woods University News Release

News Release

Contact info: Mary Ann Beahon
Director of University Relations
(573) 592-1127
mbeahon@williamwoods.edu
www.williamwoods.edu
9/5/2002

Father’s Portrait Finally Finds Rest

In 1973, the brush strokes of a daughter’s paintbrush created a portrait of her father to hang in a place of honor at William Woods University. But it would be 29 years before it would be hung there.

Donna Aldridge, a 1962 graduate and daughter of the late Ralph G. Aldridge, will unveil the portrait of her father during a ceremony in the Aldridge Recreation Center at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 8.

The ceremony is open to the public and will be followed by a reception in the Gladys Woods Kemper Center for the Arts, where Aldridge is one of the featured artists in the current exhibit.

Although Ralph Aldridge, appointed as a William Woods board member and trustee in 1962, never made it to college, “he held a great appreciation for education,” his daughter said.

As a contractor, he devoted time and energy to improving William Woods. From dredging Senior Lake to construction of university roads, Aldridge was glad there were “things he could do within his power [for the university],” Donna Aldridge explained.

Serving on the board of directors for 20 years, Aldridge was honored in 1964 for his dedication to the university. Aldridge Recreation Center was constructed alongside Junior Lake.

Aldridge’s younger daughter, Margaret Aldridge Morris, class of ’66, attended William Woods right after the building first opened. In 1973, officials at William Woods asked alumna and artist Donna Aldridge to paint a portrait of her father for display in the recreation center.

However, when her father viewed the painting, “he loved it so much [that] he nailed it on the wall, then and there,” recalls Aldridge. The portrait remained in their home until both of her parents passed away.

Now, almost three decades after doing the portrait, Aldridge returns to William Woods for the official unveiling. “It means so much to me to have the painting where it was intended 29 years earlier,” she said.

“For him to be a part of William Woods in this way means so much to the family. He really loved William Woods and was proud of the college.”

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