Donna Goes

I earned my BFA in Fashion Design from Massachusetts College of Art and Design.  Following college I worked for a short time in an art gallery and frame shop before accepting a position at Hasbro, Inc. where I worked on and off for more than 25 years, designing toys for the girls market.

Growing up, my family would venture to Nantasket Beach a few times during the summer. We pleaded to go across the street and into Paragon Park, a magical place for a kid. My first roller coaster ride was both frightening and exhilarating. I couldn’t get enough of it. Later as a young adult, after the park was no longer a part of the landscape, I was drawn in by the beach when I needed to escape. I’m now lucky enough to live here and breathe in the incredible beauty everyday.

Somewhere along the line I began collecting postcards from the area and found the park had a deeper history than I ever knew. I wanted to have something around me that captured the memories and so I scanned the postcards, created the surrounding designs in Illustrator and sent them off to be digitally printed on fabric. Once the fabric arrives, I construct Linen/Cotton pillows, zip purses, organic lavender filled sachets and Eco Canvas beach bags.

My current artistic expression uses common plastic bags destined for landfill that are artfully transformed into richly layered abstracts. Plastic grocery bags and mesh produce sacks undergo metamorphosis by fire (well almost; they are melted with an iron between sheets of parchment paper). The newly formed compound is cut and fused by heat again and again until the final image emerges. A canvas then becomes the laboratory where unique elements like buttons, bottle caps, paper, and fabric scraps, or rusted metal bits are combined with the fused plastic and transmuted into an abstract cityscape, still life, creature, or pattern or who knows what! The unpredictable process results in an amalgamation of vibrant color, layered texture, and visual story.

Now happily semi-retired I get to explore my multiple passions for surface design, collage, assemblage, painting (oil, acrylic, encaustic), making jewelry, and whatever else strikes me in the moment.

Email: hereigoes@verizon.net

Website: Luckylifestudio.com

Etsy: Luckylifestudio.etsy.com