Donald Demers

Over the last 25 years, a whole new breed of marine artist has entered the field with a roar. Energetic and incredibly talented, these artists are dedicated to continuing and expanding the great traditions of this time-honored art form. Among this group only a fewrises up as leaders of this new generation. Versatile artist Don Demers is by everyone’s measure one of these.

Don was born in 1956 in Lunenberg, a small rural community in central Massachusetts. His interests in painting maritime subjects began while spending his summers on the coast, in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Although predominantly a self-taught artist, Demers attended the School of the Worcester Art Museum and the Massachusetts College of Arts.

His education continued at sea as a crewmember aboard many traditional sailing vessels. These included the square rigger UNICORN, the schooner FAIR SARAE, and the brigantine BLACK PEARL where he experienced first hand the workings of traditional sailing ships and the mysterious beauty of the open ocean. Aboard these, he cruised the waters of the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Caribbean.

His professional career began as an illustrator, expanding into maritime subjects as the years progressed. His illustrations can be found on many book covers and in national publications such as Reader’s Digest, Sail Magazine, Field & Stream, Sports Afield, and Yankee magazine. The March 2002 issue of National Geographic magazine featured Don’s painting of the wreck of a 5th century B.C. Greek galleon for an article by well-known underwater archeologist George Bass, and the cover of the paperback edition of Sea of Glory by award-winning author Nathanial Philbrick also featured one of Don’s paintings. The Museum of American Illustration has recognized his work four times in their National competition representing the finest examples of work in the field. Demers’ diversity has enabled him to apply his creative skills to projects for American Airlines to the National Park Service. One of his paintings of the FARADAYlaying the first Transatlantic cable appeared in one of the coveted Super Bowl half-time ads! Various projects have included designing art glass for Steuben, and creating two paintings for the United States Power Squadron to commemorate their 100th anniversary. A move to make his permanent home to Maine in 1984 marked a dramatic change in his career in which illustration yielded to maritime and landscape painting.

Don is a “fellow” of the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA), a member of the Guild of Boston Artists, and has won a record 15 awards at the Mystic International Marine Art Exhibition, Mystic, CT since 1982. His marine paintings have been featured in a number of publications including American Artist, Yachting, Nautical Quarterly, Nautical World, Offshore, Maine Boats, Marine Boats and Harbors, and Fine Art Connoisseur. His work has been included and discussed in a number of texts including Concordia Yawls, The First Fifty Years, by Elizabeth Meyer,Marine Painting and Yachts on Canvas, by James Taylor, Yacht Portraitspublished by Sheridan House, A Gallery of Marine Art, Rockport Publishers and an instructional textbook titled Marine Painting, Techniques of Modern Masters published by Watson Guptill. His work is also included in Bound for Blue Water, the definitive guide to contemporary marine art by J. Russell Jinishian. In addition to creating original works of art, selected paintings are available as limited edition prints through the Greenwich Workshop, the nation’s premier publisher of fine art prints.

Recently, Demers’ body of work has expanded to the study and creation of landscape paintings based on 19th century methods and philosophies. He received the “Silver Medal” at the Laguna Beach, California Plein-Air Painting International Exhibition in 2006. As his reputation as one of America’s top realist painters, of any subject matter, has grown, he’s also become one of the most sought after instructors by advanced students around the country. His ability to articulate the complex issues of art and to inspire aspiring artists has found him over the last two years, leading sold out workshops in Scottsdale, Arizona; Maui, Hawaii; Bordeaux, France; Dingle, Ireland; Chatham, Massachusetts; Easton, Maryland; Old Lyme, Connecticut; Portland and Boothbay, Maine; and Durango, Colorado -- and this summer, at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine. He’s filmed a series of instructional videos entitled “The Outdoor Studio.” He also has been lecturing on his maritime art experiences at a variety of museums, art clubs, yacht clubs and historical societies.

Since his last one-man exhibition in 2006, Don’s paintings have also been featured in a number of prominent museum exhibitions including the Joan Irvine Museum in Laguna Beach, California; the Haggin Museum in Stockton, California; the Thunderbird Foundation For the Arts at the Maynard Dixon Home and Studio in Mt. Carmel, Utah; the new Plein-Air Painting Museum on Catalina Island, California; the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland and the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis, Massachusetts. In 2007, Demers’ paintings traveled with the National Exhibition entitled “From Sea to Shining Sea: A Reflection of America”, which included stops at the George Bush Presidential Library, College Station, TX; the Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX; Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL; City of Portsmouth Courthouse Gallery, Portsmouth, VA; Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI and the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Owensboro, KY. In 2009, Demers’ paintings could be seen in the American Society of Marine Artists’ 30th Anniversary National Exhibition which traveled to the Chase Center on the Riverfront, Wilimington, Delaware; the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Oxford, Maryland; the Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, New Yorkand New Bedford Art Museum, New Bedford, Massachuetts. Future plans include a coffee-table book on the artist, and a retrospective exhibition of his work at a major museum.

Wow! It’s no wonder Don is one of the most collected marine artists in the country today.