A multiple award-winning CA member, Mikel Donahue is best known for his impeccable depictions of cowboy life. His drawings and paintings portray ranchers and their livestock during the day-to-day ritual of sunup to sundown wok on the ranch. What may seem mundane chores are captured and translated through his artistic style into moments of meaning and reflection.
Donahue, who was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was taught about life on the ranch by his paternal grandfather, who raised cattle in North Central Oklahoma. It was Donahue’s maternal grandfather who exposed him to western art at an early age with memorable trips to Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum and what was then the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. Fascinated by both life on the ranch and the iconic art by the likes of Charlie Russell and Frederic Remington, Donahue has become a perfect amalgam of his influences with a life breeding racing Quarter Horses with his wife, Christie, on their place outside of Broken Arrow, and an award-winning career in the arts. In 2017, he was inducted into the Will Rogers High School Hall of Fame, which includes musicians Leon Russell and David Gates, designers Paul Davis and Joe Johnston, and other national and world-renowned notables.
Donahue is a graduate of the University of Tulsa, and a 33-year veteran and award-winning designer of the advertising/graphic design business. His work with local, regional, and national accounts has earned him numerous ADDY, Graphix, Bronze Quill and other design award. He has been honored with numerous awards for his art, including the CA’s Gold Medal for Drawing and Mixed Media, and Silver Medal for Water Solubles in 2019, the Silver Medal for Other Media in 2018, and the Silver Medal for Water Solubles in 2017; the Will Rogers Award for Artist of the Year in 2011 from the Academy of Western Artists; and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center’s Premier Platinum Award and William E. Weiss Purchase Award in 2010, and Artists’ Choice Award in 2009. His works are on display at Broadmoor Galleries in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Settlers West Galleries in Tucson, Arizona.
CAA Member since 2016
Born: 1956
Education: University of Tulsa
Contact: Website