DONNA BALLMAN

Donna Ballman, a retired employee-side employment attorney, has found her true calling in oil painting over the past seven years, humorously claiming it's "better and cheaper than therapy." Though always drawn to creative pursuits, it was her daughters who inspired her to pick up a paintbrush. Donna often told them to live without regrets, yet she carried one from her own life: choosing chorus over art in ninth grade, despite winning an eighth-grade art award. While she cherished her singing, she lamented giving up art. In 2018, her daughters gifted her a package of classes at the De Vita Academy, and she's been painting ever since.

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Donna has had three pieces accepted into juried art exhibitions: "Dragonfly Surprise" was featured in the 19th Annual Art Competition at Studio 18 in Pembroke Pines in 2024; "Jurassic Parrot" was part of Nova Southeastern University’s "Mirrored Realities" exhibition in the Cotilla Gallery in 2025; "Iguana’s Winter Fantasy" was selected for the Galleria Mall’s Bloom exhibition in 2025.
 

Donna particularly loves painting animals, often creating whimsical "animal fantasy" pieces that depict what animals might prefer to be doing. She also has a series of what she calls her "colorful paintings." Her art history major friends, at a loss for a precise categorization, have dubbed them "neon primitive with maximalist tendencies." Donna enjoys using bright colors and picturesque settings, drawing inspiration from the Haitian paintings she collects.