DONNA ANGERS

TheReal Lifeof anArtisticQueen.

Sub-headings

Donna Angers is fascinated by the people she encounters in everyday life. Her paintings are "Big", as if she is conducting a symphony of color with her arms. Her subjects are bold, strong representations who stare directly at the viewers, resulting in mysterious, moving portraits in bold colors. Her subjects tell her story within your mind. In her own words, her goal is to perfect my gift from God Her life is a true testimony of resiliency and inspiration. We are honored to tell her story in Indie Incognito. Our publisher, Tony Smith spent time with Donna at her THESEWOMEN MATTERart showing. It was at Matter Studio in Los Angeles. We want to acknowledge Camille Thurman, who set the interview up and Karla Funderberk, owner of Matter Studio Gallery for being such a gracious hostess.

TheLife& Times

This interview was conducted at the Matter Studio in Santa Monica, CA.

This interview was special to me because, Ms. angers, at 82 years old, had an amazing story to tell It's about struggles, pains, losses and gains She was as forthright with a condor and transparency that was extremely refreshing

Q & A

Who is Donna Angers?

Well, Donna Angers w as born in 1938 and m y st ory is, I w as illegit im at e and back t hen, t hat w as not a very nice t hing t o be I w as born in nort h Lit t le Rock, Arkansas At 18 m ont hs m y m ot her left m e w it h m y grandm ot her, w ho loved m e m ore t han anyt hing. Then m y m om cam e and surprised m e at six years old, broke m y heart . She w as a st ranger, t ook m e aw ay w it h m y new daddy t o Jam aica Then w e m oved t o New Jersey, close t o Rut gers Universit y It w as a different place for m e but a nice place, being such a sm all college t ow n

Donna this question is two part. Did the college town environment play a role in your real interest in art, and exactly when did that spark for the arts manifest itself?

Wow , people have been asking m e t hat and I rem em ber, it w as a m agazine and t hey w ant ed m e t o ent er t heir art cont est w hen I w as t w elve. Now I had loved t o draw , so I ent ered t he cont est and w on. Then t hey t ell m e it w ould only cost m e $200 t o be in it (lol).

Wow, serious bait and switch. So what was next in your artistic journey?

I w as t aking art , alw ays an A st udent but all t hrough school I only paint ed caucasian w om en So I asked m e t eacher if I could paint Lucy Blount . She w as very dark skinned and beaut iful. My t eacher said, of course you paint Lucy Blount and it w as t aken aw ay from paint ing blonde, blue eye w hit e w om en.

My Perspective

Growing up, during your formative years, were there any black artists that caught your eye or was it just whatever was put in front of you?

No no no We pract iced from t he m ast ers and I sort of paint t hat w ay now

At what point in your life did painting become the central part of you, in terms of your career. When did it take on a life of it's own?

I had planned t o go t o college So I left m y m om 's house and w ent back t o Lit t le Rock To t his day m y girlfriends t hink I had a baby and disappeared. (lol) Because m y m ot her w as act ive w it h t he educat ional t ype folks in Lit t le Rock, I w as able t o get a scholarship. But at t hat t im e I did not w ant t o be in t he sout h so I w ent back t o New York. Unfort unat ely I got sexually assault ed It act ually dest royed m e because I becam e cat at onic That dest royed m y im age of w ho I w as supposed t o be I w as supposed t o be som eone going t o Paris and becom e a paint er Inst ead I ended up in a m ent al hospit al and in m y m ind, I w as no longer alive. When I w as out and back t o paint ing, a person at t he African Art Museum asked m e if I could paint m y life's st ory. So I did.

During the process of painting your life story, did you find yourself thinking about things you had went through, that you'd actually forgotten about?

Asshelooked around at her art in thestudio and smiled at thepacked house admiringher work, Donna then gavethisresponse.

Well I didn't know it w as in m e Sit t ing here looking at m y art , I realized t hat IF I FINISH THE DANCE, I SEE THE DANCE

Wit h t hat resounding closing st at em ent ,Donna Angers left us w it h a m essage as profound as w e could have hoped for

For some time now I have been an entrepreneur, from my first lemonade stand to now running two internet radio stations, online store, promotions, voice over, writing, etc and during these times, especially working in the entertainment and media industry, I have had the pleasure of partnering and collaborating with some wonderful people all over the world

What has become increasingly important to me is who I choose to partner with, someone that understands my visions and passion for what I do and partnering to continue to execute that vision to new levels and I in turn hope to do the same for whomever I work with