Collection: Donahue. Mikel

(b. 1956)

A multiple award winning member of the Cowboy Artists of America, artist 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 sun-up to sun-down work on the ranch. What may seem as mundane chores are captured and translated through his artistic style into moments of meaning and reflection.

Donahue, who was born and raised in Tulsa, was taught about life on the ranch by his paternal grandfather who raised cattle in northcentral 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 both by life on the ranch and the iconic art by the likes of Charlie Russell and Frederic Remington, as an adult, Donahue has become a perfect amalgam of his influences with a life breeding racing quarter horses with his wife Christie on their place outside Broken Arrow and an award-winning career in the arts. In May of 2017, Mikel was inducted in as a member of the Will Rogers High School Hall of Fame, an honor that includes musicians, Leon Russell, David Gates, designers Paul Davis, Joe Johnston, among other national and world renowned notables.

Mikel is a graduate of the University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK and a 33 year veteran and multiple award winning designer of the advertising/graphic design business. His work with local, regional and national accounts earned him numerous ADDY, Graphix, Bronze Quill and other design awards. He is represented by Broadmoor Galleries, Colorado Springs, CO and Settlers West Galleries, Tucson, AZ.

Some of his awards include, Cowboy Artists of America: Gold Medal - Drawing, Gold Medal - Mixed Media, Silver Medal - Water Solubles – 2019, The Society of Animal Artists select traveling exhibition: Art and the Animal - 2019/2020, Cowboy Artists of America: Silver Medal - Other Media – 2018, Cowboy Artists of America: Silver Medal - Water Solubles – 2017 and was Inducted as a Member of the Will Rogers High School Hall of Fame – 2017.