Donna Varner
This month Pluff Mudd Art Gallery celebrates the creative contemporary art of Donna Varner as its Artist of the Month.
Donna Varner is a mixed media artist, and a ten-year veteran of Pluff Mudd Art. Her formal education is in business (MBA, PhD from Ohio State). Prior to moving south from Columbus, Ohio, she had careers in retail merchandising and academia. In 2004 she left the business world to follow her muse. She has since traveled down a creative path that began with photography and expanded into other mediums.
Donna’s art is experimental in nature and reflects her affinity for depth and texture. Visually complex, cerebral, and colorful, the art invites contemplation. The more you look, the more you see.
As a mixed media artist, the mediums that she mixes include painted collage papers, acrylic paints, various inks, photographs, graphite,
“Enlightenment”
and collected ephemera. Her methods incorporate painting, drawing, gluing, sanding, scraping, scribing, burning, and an abundance of experimentation—whatever her muses and the artwork move her to do. Her process is very much in-the-moment, where art and artist are in a dialogue. The result is artwork with deep history that invites you to discover its soul.
Donna has exhibited at local arts festivals and juried exhibitions, at ArtFields, Lake City, SC, and locally with Les Bonnes Artistes and the Art Beyond Tradition Group. She is currently exhibiting at USC-Beaufort, Center for the Arts with the Art Beyond Tradition Group. In addition to being a member of Pluff Mudd Art, she also shows her work at the Art League of Hilton Head.
Visit Pluff Mudd Art throughout May to see Donna’s work. Stop in on May 14 and 25 when she will be on duty. Meet the artist, learn about her process, and see her art in person. The more you look the more you see.
The Pluff Mudd Gallery is located at 27 Calhoun Street in Bluffton. www.pluffmuddart.com
