Artist: Donald Zolan
Media: Oil on Canvas
Size: 30x30
Date: 1999
Time Out was one of Zolan’s personal favorites. A classic example of his earlier style, Zolan wanted the focus to be solely on the child and her little pouty expression without distraction from the background. He used the techniques of the Old Masters in painting her face and her eyes even highlighting her little tear. And, naturally the puppy too is sad.
Artist: Donald Zolan
Media: Oil on Canvas
Size: 30x40
Date: 2000
Inspired by one of Zolan’s earlier paintings, The Thinker, Summer Daydreams captures that special moment of a child thinking great big thoughts. Zolan himself often sat on the rock by the kitchen door to think. Every Zolan painting captures a treasured moment from his childhood and sitting on the front porch on a hot Chicago summer day was a family tradition.
Artist: Donald Zolan
Media: Oil on Canvas
Size: 30x30
Date: 1999
Zolan had a very close and special relationship with his Grandpa Judson who lived with the family in the Prairie Avenue house. He used to call Zolan his “little helper” because he was always working side by side with his grandpa at his print shop.
“Beginner’s Luck” is one of the few Zolan paintings portraying a Grandfather and grandson sharing a special moment together. You see the pride and joy that Grandpa has watching his grandson learning how to fish. This painting is a wonderful tribute to the gifts that Grandparents bring to our lives.
Artist: Donald Zolan
Media: Oil on Canvas
Size: 30x40
Date: 1998
Zolan loved the sea and he loved spending his summers with his wife on Nantucket Island. From time to time, he would set up his summer studio in Nantucket which became an inspiration for many of his paintings such as Just for Me. This precious little girl is full of wonder as she shares all her love with her three pint size puppies.
Artist: Donald Zolan
Media: Oil on Canvas and Digital Media
Size: 30x30
Date: 2002/2013
Inspired by Pennsylvania’s country stone houses, Zolan captured a part of Americana and nostalgia in Heartland Christmas. He portrayed that intimate cozy feeling of a home on a cold winter’s day and a little boy putting the finishing touches on his snowman. Even reindeer were added in the background to give the feeling of Santa coming soon.
Artist: Donald Zolan
Media: Oil on Canvas
Size: 30x40
Date: 1994
Zolan described this painting as a “blooper”. Going to the barber for a hair trim was one of those childhood moments that Zolan remembered forever and simply connected with that experience. It is as if he painted First Haircut for himself. He always reminisced about the feeling of the barber’s scissors on the back of his neck as his hair was being trimmed.
Artist: Donald Zolan
Media: Oil on Canvas
Size: 30x30
Date: 1994
Created in the Temecula, California studio, this sweet little girl was discovered by Zolan at a local pizzeria. Her little face was so cherubic and adorable that Zolan wanted to capture this precious child in a painting. He quickly introduced himself to the parents and invited them to the studio. Afterwards, she became one of the Zolan models for several paintings. The painting background is very impressionistic which was a style not often used by Zolan.
Artist: Donald Zolan
Media: Oil on Canvas
Size: 30x30
Date: 1994
Field of Dreams was photographed in Bedford County, Pennsylvania by an enthusiastic and devoted Mother who is an avid Zolan plate collector. Her little girl would become one of the prominent Zolan models in the 1990’s. The softness of the day and the sweetness and purity of Regan in a field of daisies lent itself to an impressionistic painting. The secret behind this painting is that Mother and Grandmother planted the daisies in the field of grass so that their little girl had flowers to pick for the painting.
Artist: Donald Zolan
Media: Oil on Canvas and Digital Media
Size: 30x40
Date: 2003/2012
Inspired by Zolan’s Midwestern roots, Country Chores captures family life on the farm as it was in 2003. Zolan was a master at detail depicting with great precision every fine point of farm life even to the authenticity of the quilt designs.
Artist: Donald Zolan
Media: Oil on Canvas
Size: 30x40
Date: 1986
A classic Zolan painting, Sunday’s Best is full of nostalgia of the days when children had more time to play and fantasize. When they would explore attics and their Mother’s closets looking for hats and shoes to wear so they could feel a little bit more grown up. This was the world of early childhood, of imagination, of fantasy, of Life’s Simple Pleasures.