Artist Thad Donat was born and raised in Southern California. In 1991, he received a B.S. degree in Architecture from California Polytechnic State University, and from 1990-1991, he attended the Royal Academy of Art & Design, University of Copenhagen,. His degree in architecture provided a potent mix of science, art, discipline and technique, and his international studies in Copenhagen added the key ingredients of culture, travel and perspective to his creative persona. Donat has directed hand-crafted furniture, industrial design, traveled to faraway places, restored turn-of-the-century homes, and currently owns a retail design firm in Seattle, Washington. His professional training and his design firm business ensure that he is constantly working with new composition, color and materials, as well as traveling frequently. This exposure serves to feed his artistic inspiration and creativity. Art for him is everything ordinary daily life is not.
He runs a professional design practice that is constantly faced with deadlines, regulations, rules, permits and codes. It is very challenging and just occasionally truly rewarding. As a professional artist he’s expected and rewarded for painting outside the lines. Donat says that in contrast, creating art is very rewarding, occasionally challenging, and there are very few rules. 15 years of experimentation in every medium, Donat is fascinated by the potential of paint to create patterns and textures of great beauty. He finds creative inspiration in the most unlikely places, whether from a view from 30,000 in an airplane, a simple texture, and interesting relationship between objects, a found object or a random doodle.
