Donald Rainville

Known for his use of action painting techniques, Donald Vincent Rainville takes inspiration from infinite forms of wild landscapes to create dynamic and expressive depictions of nature. After studying forestry at the Essex Technical Institute of Agriculture in Massachusetts, he worked in high-end antique and art restoration. The consistent nature of such a refined process allowed him to hone his skills as a colorist and experiment with diverse materials, which would later help shape his work.

Influenced by the “drip technique” of Jackson Pollock, Rainville forgoes using brushes in his work, preferring a more direct manipulation of the paint. He employs house oils, torn shapes of lightweight cardboard and, at times, live plant material to apply paint to achieve random and spontaneous effects and “be literally ‘in’ the work. His primary focus is on “treescapes” and the never-ending inspiration provided by forests. Jazz and tree epigenetics—or the adaptive capacity of trees to environmental changes—influence his more abstract works. Rainville exhibits throughout the New England region and has been shown at the Cahoon Museum in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire.

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