It’s not surprising that Adell Donaghue lists Rembrandt and Edward Hopper as two key influences. The Easthampton printmaker and painter’s work is all about using light and dark to share her vision of the world around her and her own thoughts and emotions.
Donaghue, who’s been making art for about 40 years, has done so in diverse ways. She’s taught art and worked as a graphic designer and art director in theater, academia and the business world; she also ran a design and advertising business for some 20 years. These days, she’s especially focused on her printmaking, and her newest work will be part of a printmaking exhibition and workshop in Westport this weekend.
Hampshire Life: Talk about the work you’re currently doing. What does it involve, and what are you trying to achieve?
Adell Donaghue: My current projects involve multiple disciplines: drawing, design, printmaking, painting and sometimes video. I have a series of monoprints called “My Fishies” that I’ve been working on for three or four years. More recently, I’ve been focused on a large woodblock print for a printmaking event. The print, “My Pyrrhic Victory,” is part of another ongoing series of work about the circus and carnival; I want it to convey both the energy and chaos of being alive.
“My Pyrrhic Victory” is a compilation of eight or nine drawings made from visits to the Big E and the Cummington Fair, several road trips across the United States, and an imaginary circus performer.
HL: What do you draw inspiration from? Do you ever have any “Eureka!” moments?
AD: I draw inspiration largely from the natural world; I sift the world through my imagination to form my work. As far as Eureka moments, in 2012 I got a sudden understanding of how to combine multiple drawings to create imaginary epics.
HL: Name two artists you admire or who have influenced your work. What about their art appeals to you?
AD: Rembrandt and Hopper. I admire their transformation of physical materials (paint, ink, charcoal) into the experience of light and dark — their work conveys a sense of their inner worlds through the representation of the exterior world in ways I find poignant and beautiful. They both show specific moments in time which transcend time.
HL: If you weren’t an artist, what do you think you’d be?
AD: An engineer. I’d like to design suspension bridges.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bgqu2fxvrmwhvx4/AAAoArpZuS3OerJixXZOKuv-a?dl=0&preview=Video+Jun+13%2C+7+49+32+AM.mov
HL: Dream dinner party: Who would you invite?
AD: My living guests would be Jane Rothchild, Michelle Obama, Gloria Allred, Tina Turner and Jane Fonda. The deceased ones would be Joan Donaghue, Florence Rothchild, Suzanne Howes-Stevens, Eleanor Roosevelt and Frida Kahlo.
HL: Do you listen to music while you’re working? What kind?
AD: Jazz or folk or Motown.
HL: What do you do when you’re stuck?
AD: Clean the studio, do research for another project or take a walk in our garden.
— Steve Pfarrer
Adell Donaghue’s website is adelldonaghue.com. Her recent work will be on display this weekend at the Dedee Shattuck Gallery, 1 Partners’ Lane, Westport; (508) 636-4177.