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Donjo
marine
life
sculptor
Donjo, the internationally renown artist-sculptor,
was born in Chicago in 1949, and raised in southern California. He was
introduced to sculpture at the age of eleven and put himself through school by
selling his bronze works at weekend art shows. In 1987, he began to
focus exclusively on sculpting, putting a strong emphasis on marine life.
"I went to Hawaii and saw a 60-foot long whale breaching. It was
like seeing a building leave the water. It scared me and then it was
explained to me that she's docile and I couldn't imagine anything that big
being docile. All I could think of at the time was Moby Dick. When
I went home I started carving that whale and I had to get the right look
because every time I tried to carve her, she looked like a big salmon.
Then I started reading those books and got very interested in sea life in
general. I started going to Sea World a lot and selling
there." So says artist Donjo, whose bronze and acrylic sculptures
are so life-like that they seem ready to swim away at any moment.
"I'm inspired not only by the animals I see, but by people. I'll
see the way a mother looks at her child and I'll try to capture that in a
sculpture of a dolphin with her baby. There are a lot of
similarities."
Donjo's sculptures can be purchased in thirteen countries around the globe,
with new markets opening all the time. Donjo hopes his line of
California wildlife sculptures will be as successful as his marine line.
Donjo is well known for his work in surrealism, realism and fantasy consisting
of studies, portraits, fairytale characters and endangered species. He
is one of the few artists who constructs gallery, and monument size statues in
three-dimension and bas relief.
A percentage of Donjo's profits goes to the Hubs'
Research Center, (at Sea World). Hubs, a marine life research institute,
sends research teams all over the world. Among its attempts to solve
problems created by man, Hubs seeks to find ways to save the green sea turtle
and reintroduce the white sea-bass to the Pacific Ocean.
by Sheryl Stewart