Don Huber was born in 1953 and grew up near the town of Hamler, Ohio. After graduating from high school and working a year, he attended The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and then transferred to the Cleveland Cooper School of Art. After working various jobs as a layout artist, in 1978 he created his own screen printing business in the town of Ottawa, Ohio.
Don bought art books when he was a youth to try and teach himself how to draw, paint and interpret his ideas. He would purchase books the like of Wyeth, Dali, Magritte, Gallardo, Escher and later Frazetta, Hildebrandt Bros and Froud. He would sit for hours studying the paintings of these accomplished artists. When he started his screenprint business it allowed him to find his own style of illustration and he was able to pursue his art although it went into different directions. From the black and white pen work required for his business, to the pencil and acrylic art of his own pursuits, his paintings reflect the surealism and fantasy of his favorite artists.
SONGSHADOWS
His early love of music is evident in this series and he explains his Songshadows series in a single sentence;
“As songs are written, performed and played they leave a shadow of imagination and it is in this environment that I paint these images.
VIRTUE and VICE
In his “Virtue & Vice” artwork, he believes he MUST tell a story and deliver a message about overcoming frustration, struggles and misunderstandings. He hopes that this series of art shows that he just doesn’t understand peoples judgements and condemnation of others. His hope is that people will try to relate to the message of the art as they view his artwork.
MORELSCAPES
Don has hunted the morel mushrooms since he was a small child and what’s is better than hunting and eating them, in his world it would be drawing or painting scenes of morels which he call “Morelscapes”.
BUCKEYE COUNTRY ART
His interest in sports also started at a very young ageand his interest in Ohio State football began during childhood as he played in backyard football games with his brothers and neighborhood friends.
Don is also a Cleveland Browns fan and he began illustrating pencil drawings of his favorite players. He volunteered to help with the Bernie Kosar golf outings for a couple of years and attended other events, getting autographs on his illustrations from players and receiving a great response over his work. He then expanded his artistic direction and began painting players’ portraits on footballs which he calls “Pigskin Portraits”.
His artwork gained a lot of attention and in 1993 he was asked to do an illustration to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 68’ Buckeyes National Championship held at the Woody Hayes Atheletic Center. He was then asked to create an illustration for the placemats for the annual OSU football senior banquet, which he continues to do every year since 1995.
In 1998 he completed his first painting of the “Buckeye Country Art” collection. His first painting “Under A Buckeye Moon”was an example of his love for the Buckeyes and the beautiful rural countryside that he grew up in. It became such a success that he continued the style and “Buckeye Country Art” was born.