Don Marvine aspired to be a painter during his early years growing up in Omaha. Born February 28, 1929, he painted watercolors as a teenager, which led to a part-time job his senior year in high school in an advertising agency, where he learned the tools of the industry. He married his high school sweetheart, Deloise Hall (Dee), at 18, and they headed to California to begin an adventurous, creative life together.
Don attended Art Center College in Los Angeles absorbing the new profession of graphic design and continuing to expand his creative skills. These skills were in demand in the advertising industry and job offers provided opportunities in Omaha, and soon after in Chicago.
He built his reputation in the business, and after a few years launched his own studio to become a leader in the field of graphic design. His creative work was well recognized, winning numerous honors including awards for his design of posters, textbooks, and poetry books. He was also elected into the prestigious “Chicago 27 Designers.”
After a successful thirty-year career as a designer, Don retired from his business to devote his time to fine art. With their two children through college, Don and Dee decided to follow their passions, left their home in the iconic John Hancock Building, and moved to the small town of Big Timber, Montana. During his thirty-two years in Montana, Don actively pursued his passion for fine art, also conducting workshops in watercolor and composition, color, and design. His wife, pursuing her own creative bent under the name Dee Marvine, conducted writing workshops and wrote four published historical novels. Together they founded The Big Timber Jazz Society, and for five years produced several concerts each year that brought jazz performers to the little town of Big Timber. They also formed their own five-piece jazz combo featuring Dee’s vocals and Don playing rhythm guitar.
The paintings in this book are from Don’s fine-art period in Montana, 1982-2009. They are organized into various groups based on subject matter or level of abstraction, loosely grouped in chronological order. However, as he explored different themes, media, and compositions, he often returned to an earlier style in a new series of paintings. He created hundreds of works during this time, but many of the earlier works were sold before they were documented.
Working in a variety of mediums, he is best known for his fine color and design in impressionistic watercolors as well as in abstract gouaches and large acrylics. His work has been exhibited in juried shows throughout the western states, in one-man shows, and included in private collections across the country.
In 2013, the Marvines moved to Lutherville, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore, to be closer to their extended family, while continuing their interests in art, music, and writing. Don continued to paint into his 90s, always thinking about his next series.