Growing up, Donna Liguria started drawing early on but considered her two brothers more talented artists than she was. She might have to re-think that now as her painting “Gunston Hall” won the “People’s Choice” award at the Crossroads Arts Alliance show “Everyone’s Hometown.”
A native of Alexandria and then Central Virginia, Donna has been painting most of her life, but since she retired this past year, she now considers herself “an artist with training wheels.” Her trips to the National Gallery of Art, Mount Vernon, the Grist Mill, and Woodlawn Plantation provided early inspiration for painting historic buildings. She did not visit George Mason’s Gunston Hall until 2014.
“How lucky are we to be surrounded by all of these wonderful, old homes here in Virginia” says Liguria. “These historic places are amazing in so many ways. The thing that struck me about Gunston Hall was going up the stairs and seeing how low the banisters are. Walking through the deep history embedded in the hallways, echo through time and bring so many questions to mind of life back then.”
“When I picked up painting again in 2020 full time, I started a series of historic Virginia homes and began with Mount Vernon, near where I grew up.”
After that, it was Monticello, then Gunston Hall, followed by the Governor’s Mansion in Richmond, and Rosemont in Berryville. Liguria also did a painting of the Manassas Train Station, which took first place in the 2022 p-ART-ners Paint! Manassas competition. As for what’s next, Liguria says, “There are so many seasons, places to see, times of day, critters small and large, and bodies of water to paint. I believe it will keep me busy for quite a while. And, she notes, there are quite a few other Historic Virginia homes to conquer.”
Four Fun Facts About the Artist
- Painting people is intimidating for me. I have turned down requests for portraits.
- I did some amateur body building when I was younger and won a few trophies.
- I did take some Taekwondo in a former life, getting up to a blue belt.
- I have been a part owner of a couple of Italian Restaurants in Charlottesville and Louisa, Virginia in the past.
