The art of making art, Donna Lee Dumont

Following upon the previous blog post about Gunnar Mines alumni, Donna Lee’s role as educator can’t be separated from her art. In 2012, she wrote and colourfully illustrated a children’s book Peter Fidler and the Métis. Fidler was an explorer and mapmaker for the Hudson’s Bay Company. He married a Cree woman and Donna Lee is a descendant of this union. The book relates Fidler’s story but is, at the same time, a portrait of the oft-troubled Métis history in Canada and Donna Lee’s personal journey into her Aboriginal heritage.

She also illustrated Ken “Manny” Carron’s award-winning book Manny’s Memories, published in 2014 which has a similar focus on Métis life in Canada. Most recently, Donna Lee completed a series of ten small paintings, featuring aspects of traditional Métis life, for the Gabriel Dumont Institute in Saskatchewan, an organization that promotes Métis culture.

Although Donna Lee paints realistic subject matter on occasion, her work is generally more abstract and is often described as spiritual. The natural world is an important focus of her work. She paints because she has to, saying, “It is part of who I am. Painting is a process and I do it, not caring about making mistakes or what it looks like at the end.”

Her work often unconsciously unveils what she has been thinking. In one piece, as a woman’s form emerged as she painted, Donna Lee realized the figure embodied the painful thoughts that had been surfacing as she listened to news about the mistreatment of women. The finished work is entitled “Hope” reflecting Donna Lee’s belief in the strength of women and her optimism for the future.

Her media include alcohol ink, acrylic, oil, encaustic, mixed media, and collage. You can see more of her work on her Facebook page.

Author: Patricia Sandberg

Born in southern Saskatchewan, lived as a baby in a tent-house, and grew up in a uranium mining town. I am now a confirmed West Coast city-dweller. Sailed to Hawaii and San Francisco and biked to Seattle. Book lover, dog lover, Spanish student, and gardener when I have time. Full time wife and mother (to grown-up kids). Practiced law in Vancouver for more years than I care to remember. Volunteer and environmentalist. A year and a half ago I started my research for a book about Gunnar Mines Saskatchewan, a mining town born in the frenzied search for uranium during the Cold War, set in the middle of the post World War II immigration boom and contributing in no small measure to the baby boom. In the midst of all this history and frenzy, Gunnar was simply a place where people raised their families. My book tells their stories. View all posts by Patricia Sandberg