Caledonia Argus

Local artist lives to paint

Posted: 4/1/03

by Andrew Miller
Argus News Reporter

A life devoted to the arts has been for Caledonia painter Donald Voiovich a means of making use of the talents God has bestowed, documenting things fine and beautiful, and parsing the ways of the world. Decades after first picking up a brush, the desire to create still remains the driving force in his life.

ìI love painting, and thatís itñ it keeps me sane in this cockamamie world,î Voiovich said. ìThe Good Lord gives you this talent and inspiration, and itís just exciting to use the talent that you have. Iíve always had this desire, and my painting is my life. Itís just a part of your psyche, and Iíd paint even if I never got paid for it.î

Voiovich grew up in Caledonia, and it was here where his interest in painting was first piqued. A correspondence art course his father took in the late 1940s introduced him to the possibilities painting had to offer, and at age five he began painting on his own. Family encouragement prompted him to pursue fine art as a career.

After a stint in the Marines in the early 1960s, Voiovich studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and at a commercial art school in La Crosse. He moved to Minneapolis in 1968, but in 1993 moved back to Caledonia, where he has turned a Kingston Street apartment into a studio geared solely toward the creation of paintings. To help finance his artistic endeavors he works at a factory in Spring Grove.

ìIíve always wanted to make a living at fine art, but quite realistically, itís very hard to support yourself as a fine artist,î he said, adding that standards he sets for his paintings have at times been a hindrance that to turning his art into a more lucrative enterpriseñ ìWorking on a painting is very time consuming, and you have to have the right frame of reference. A lot of times I wonít accept a commission if I canít get the right frame of reference for the painting. I want to please the client, but it has to please me first. Itís an ego thing.î

Though adhering to stringent aesthetic standards, his subject matter is as variegated as the world he perceives around him and the worlds he conjures in his mind. Ranging from the fantastic to the mundane, from fairies to the human form, his artistic oeuvre is limited only by the extent of his ideas. ìI like to paint what comes to mind,î he said. ìI donít specialize in anything, except maybe things that are beautiful, things that excite your imagination.î

Of central importance to any artist, he said, is a community in which artists can exchange ideas freely, criticize each otherís work, and showcase their output. Caledonia, he thinks, is just such a place. Area shops and galleries allow artists to present their paintings, and Voiovich has had pieces displayed locally at stores like Pine Cone Place and Time Travel, as well as at The Perfect Edge gallery in Decorah, Iowa.

Though what is needed in Caledonia, he noted, is an artistsí consortium, a gallery of sorts, in which creative people can learn, work, and present publicly what theyíve accomplished creatively. He plans to establish such a place in the near future. ìIíd like to see what interest there is locally for the development of a conservatory for all types of creative people,î he said. ìBasically what I really want to do in this town is eventually have a studio and gallery and teach fine art.î

ìAs an artist, you need to get out and associate with other artists,î he added. ìYou always learn from people, no matter who they are, and, you have to surround yourself with people that can push you, criticize you, and be somewhat positive in how they deal with you.î

The consortium, Voiovich said, would also be useful in that it could potentially expose area youth to the fine arts. Teaching kids and teens how to paint is something that, as his career has progressed, he has more and more desire to do. ìThe older I get the more I just want to surround myself with younger people,î he noted, ìand I think there should be more opportunities in Caledonia for young people to develop their artistic abilities.î

While an impulse to teach fine art is at the forefront of Voiovichís career ideas, the act of painting is still for him the focus and highlight of his days, and in this he has found his raison díetre.

ìIf I couldnít paint, I couldnít breathe,î he said, ìand thatís the way it should be.î

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