About the Artist

Biography:

Donald Kenner is an Australian landscape painter, born in Greensborough and raised in nearby Montmorency, north of Melbourne. Drawing was his passion from an early age, excelling in art subjects at school.
He completed an electrical apprenticeship in the 1960s and worked in the trade for the next 12 years, while maintaining his passion for fine art.
In 1974 he began full time art school at the Prahran College of Advanced Education, receiving first class honours at painting and drawing. He then transferred to the Victorian College of the Arts, gaining the Diploma of Art in 1976.
At Art School the work of the American Abstract Expressionist movement opened up new ways of seeing which could not be ignored.
Influences include English painters John Constable and JMW Turner and the French and Australian Impressionist Movements.
Prominent Australian artists, Fred Williams, Jeff Makin, Victor Majzner and John Hopkins have been important influences over many years.
A more recent influence is the German-born American colourist Wolf Kahn. After attending Kahn's 2015 exhibition in New York, he regarded Kahn's work as brave and inspiring; a breath of fresh air amongst the work shown around town at that time.
Donald Kenner works en plein air and in the studio, and to hone his touch, and colour selection, practices rapid pencil and watercolour sketches on long distance train travel in Australia and abroad, stating, "it's always nice to have something to show at the end of the journey."
His recent portraiture has received favourable exposure.
Donald Kenner teaches drawing and painting in Caulfield, Melbourne.

Artistic Timeline

1966-68: Attended local art classes and learned the basics of painting in oils.
1969-70: Moved to Perth Western Australia, concentrating on landscapes and seascapes in oils. The Western Australian Newspaper Art Critic Murray Mason encouraged Art School studies.
1974-76: Studied painting and drawing full time at the Prahran College of Advanced Education and at the Victorian College of the Arts. Began practicing rapid sketchbook pencil studies from regional trains in Western Victoria.
1977-79: Worked at Art Stretchers Co in Melbourne selling art materials. Began using watercolours for plein air studies.
1980-85: First major commission, 'Portrait of a House' at Park Orchards. Travelled to Europe and Israel in 1982 completing a series of detailed sketchbook drawings. Captivated by John Constable’s ‘The Hay Wain’ at the London National Gallery. Inspired by the 2085 Turner Abroad show at the National Gallery of Victoria. Toured New Zealand doing sketchbook studies.
1986-97: Exhibited in group shows at: Dempsters Gallery in Canterbury, Melbourne's Fringe Festival, Libby Edwards Galleries South Yarra, and the Victoria University Gallery. Completed commissioned works in oils and watercolour.
1998-2005: Mainly working with watercolours on location in North- eastern Victoria.
2006-09: Established a new home-based studio. Toured the UK, Ireland and Western Europe. Toured outback Queensland in 2008; sketching from trains en route. Completed the major Harvest 21 triptych in oils and a series of First Fruits acrylic paintings from his plein air watercolours of the Benalla region in Northeastern Victoria.
2010: Toured the USA and Canada doing sketchbook studies from Amtrak and Canadian VIA Rail trains.
2011: Concentrated on plein air landscapes and life drawing. Toured New Caledonia. Created studio works from the 2010 USA, Canada tour.
2012: Toured New Zealand and the central and western top end of Australia. Completed a portrait commission.
2013: Exhibited in group exhibitions. Toured the USA and Canada sketching from trains. Completed two portrait commissions. Created a number of illustrations for a Cambodian classroom story book.
2014-15: Toured Europe and the UK.
2016-19: Toured the Caucuses, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, France, the Channel Islands and England. Completed a series of watercolours from XPT trains between Melbourne and Yass, NSW. Entered a number of major art prizes in 2018-19. Finalist for the 2019 Grace Cossington Smith Award in Sydney.
2020 Solo exhibition rescheduled due to Covid Pandemic
2021 Successful major Solo exhibition of 52 works at the Glen Eira City Council Gallery.
2022 Working on commissions and en plein air painting. Worked from the train in outback Queensland.
2023-24 Completed a series of watercolours and pencil sketches working from NSW regional trains. Began teaching a weekly art group in 2023. Began using oil pastels more seriously for studio and en plein air work.
2025 Completed a series of pencil and watercolour sketches on Flinders Island and Lord Howe Island, and from the train between Sydney and Armidale NSW. Continued teaching drawing and painting on a weekly basis.