
Rich Donadio is a contemporary impressionistic artist and physician who grew up in New Jersey but has been residing in Georgia for the last twenty years. He started his career as an Aerospace Engineer after graduating from New Jersey Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Engineering Technology. He worked in industry on government projects for three years before entering medical school. He initially went to Grenada for two years and then completed his Doctor of Medicine at New York Medical College. He completed two residencies, his final one at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. He has an MBA from the University of Phoenix.
He became interested in art when family members (father, bother, and cousin all mechanical engineers) would show mechanical drawings of futuristic cars and vehicles they had made. He started drawing in his teens and continued on through his employment as an Aerospace Engineer at the Singer Kearfott Company. At The Singer Company, he worked on test equipment for F15, F16, and B1 Bomber on board computer systems. After leaving this company, he was occupied with medical school and residency and had to put aside his love for art and drawing.
After moving to Georgia in 1996, some years later, he began to get involved in oil paintings when a gentleman at a local art festival told him that he could “teach him to paint in four hours.” He took him up on the offer and travelled to the man’s studio. The man was right and Dr. Rich has been painting ever since. He has had lessons over the years from the artist, Frank Murphy.
Rich Donadio has also written a children’s book entitled “The Big Red Car” (Dr. Rich), in which he sketched the initial artwork for the book. He has performed as an actor on stage in the Beauty and the Beast play in the Cedartown, Georgia, Civic Center, and appeared in films twice (A Larger Life, and The System).
Dr. Rich Donadio has traveled to Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Brazil providing medical aid to those in need through local churches which have international representation.
When fresh paint touches the canvas, I feel as if I am able to give life to a new creature. It all begins with a thought in the mind; then a call to action. With each new stoke, something yet unborn continues to grow. As the canvas comes alive, the exhilaration of seeing a new form take its shape captivates me, and the hours pass by; it’s as if I’m in a time warp. I lose track of the day—, forget to eat… Something from deep within pushes me to work. I truly love to paint!
When I am finished with a piece, I sit back and stare at it for hours making sure there is a sense of completeness; often adding little details. It gives me a sense of peace and happiness amidst a crazy world to know that something that will bring others happiness or provoke positive thought has been created. I am always striving to improve on my work and myself as an individual. This is why I study art and how society’s thoughts can be seen in it. I feel exactly the same as Fyodor Dostoyevsky when he said: “Man is a mystery. It needs to be unraveled, and if you spend your whole life unraveling it, don’t say that you’ve wasted time. I am studying that mystery because I want to be a human being.”
I appreciate all artistic styles and skill, but am most drawn to those that allow for some individual interpretation. I have a free flowing and loose style. A certain amount of vagueness, I feel, is a good thing. I think it allows one’s mind to wonder as they lookon. I love to see people’s reaction to a piece when it is finished. Some will see things that I did not intentionally put in the picture, but, in fact, are there.
My hope is that my pieces will stimulate the mind, warm the body, and encourage the soul.
Solo Exhibits 2016
Private showing for local Attorneys
Floyd Medical Center Rehabilitation Unit Showing for Nursing and Physical Therapy Department Directors.
Local Accounting Firm Private Showing
Artwork is on display in local businesses in Ellijay, Blue Ridge, and Rome Georgia.