Donna Campbell Allen, Portrait Painter Best in Show! Richmond 2011 Rendered her first portrait at the age of 9, received her first commission at 18, and graduated with top honors from art school. Even so, she never really considered being a portrait painter until becoming the mother of 3 busy toddlers 11 years ago. She says it was certainly the thrill of pushing cheery colors around with a brush, adding thin transparent layers of watery washes while shaping mood and complexity of each human form late into the night that gave birth to years of successful commissions.
