Oral History Interview: Don Reynolds, Artist

Don Reynolds is a local artist whose life’s work spans serving as an Artist in Residence for Little Rock Public Schools, working as a Cultural Coordinator for the Central Florida Council of Arts and Sciences, contributing larger-than-life murals, signage, and sculptures in and around Orlando, designing centerpieces for the US Culinary Team, and much, much more. He is a proud Navy Veteran of the USS Yorktown CVS 10. After about 17 years of dedication, Reynolds completed building his own 36-foot sailboat, and crossed the Atlantic to study sculpting with the masters in Pietrasanta, Italy. He would go on to sell a masterpiece of his own to the Mayor of Pietrasanta.

But, his story doesn’t end there- Reynolds returned with his newfound skills to Central Florida, and created a work of Carrara marble for the Veterans Commemorative Site on Memory Mall at UCF. He continued to contribute well-known works, including “The Charging Knight” at UCF, “Blue Jacket Recruit” at Blue Jacket park, and “Flora,” a copper butterfly at Monarch Butterfly Park. At 81 years old, Reynolds still has big dreams for his future.

Listen, as Reynolds reflects on his experiences through an oral history interview:

My name is Aida Lashinsky, and I’m interviewing Don Reynolds. The day is November 13th, 2025. We’re at the Orlando Public Library. Thank you for allowing me to record this interview.

Oh, you’re quite welcome. 

To begin, can you please tell me where and when you were born? (0:19)

Okay. I was born in Carlisle, England in 1944, August 17th. My mother was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. And, my father married her when he was serving in the Army Air Force in England, during World War II. After the war, my mother and I, we came across the Atlantic from Southampton to New York on the Queen Mary on what they referred to as the “War Brides Cruise.” It was the first one, and it was for all the British women who married American servicemen during the war.

They were allowed to come to America. And at that point, we went through the immigration process. I remember it took seven years for her to finally be officially an American citizen. You know, when we applied. But anyway, that was the start of my career and America.

My dad continued to be in the Air Force. But prior to that, we went to my grandfather’s farm up in Northwest Arkansas. And, we lived there for a little while. And after he got out of the service, we worked on the farm for a little bit, and then he went back into the service.

We were stationed at Grand Island, Nebraska for a little while, and then we moved to South Dakota- Rapid City, South Dakota. We were there for about three or four years, I guess. And then, we moved from there to Ramey Air Force Base in Puerto Rico. These were typical assignments, you know, for Air Force Personnel back then.

We were in Puerto Rico from 1952-55. And from there, we moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base. And, that’s where I lived. My mother and dad were always married. And, I basically started my career there, working as a commercial artist while I was going to school.

But at the same time, I was doing watercolor. I’d go out and paint old barns and did a lot of sketching all the time. I was working with pencils all the time. And I would, once I had a whole collection of watercolors, I would go to one of the local banks and they would let me set up a one-man show in the bank lobby. And, so I was able to sell my watercolors that way.

I was working freelance at the time. I got married in 1968 to my lovely wife, who I’m still married to- 58 years. Then, we had one daughter, and then we moved from Arkansas to Sanford, and we’ve set up our home there.

We built our own home, our own house. One of the main reasons we moved to Florida- I wanted to build my boat, which I had a dream of building for all my life, you know? I got my sea legs at the ripe age of two, you know, coming across the Atlantic.

Anyway, that’s pretty much the start of when we arrived in in Florida.

Going back to when you were still a little kid living in South Dakota, what are some early memories that you have of your time there? (4:36)

Oh well, we lived on an Air Force Base. And, I was taken aback by the amount of snowfall that we’d have during the winter time. We had snow drifts that would go all the way to the top of this two-story, barrack type house, and we’d go out and play in the snow. And, I remember jumping up and down on this one snowpack and realizing it was the top of a car that I was jumping up on, up and down. I couldn’t see the car. It was completely buried. Kids and I, we’d do that all the time.

We went to Mount Rushmore- I was taken there, too, and I just was blown away by what I saw there, in terms of the presidents.

But again, playing with kids- I was still a kid at the time. My sister was born there. She’s three years younger than I am. And, then after we moved to Puerto Rico… From there, it was just another dream experience, really.

I remember, we moved into Arecibo, after we flew into San Juan. Actually on the way down from Arkansas, we flew into Havana, Cuba for a fuel stop. And then from there, we went on into Puerto Rico, into San Juan. But anyway, it was just a great experience going into Puerto Rico.

What was it like living in Puerto Rico? (6:35)

Well, it was fantastic. We were staying in a hotel- the very first morning that I got up, we were on the fifth floor of a hotel. And, I went out to the balcony and looked over, and I could hear all of the market people, you know, hawking newspapers and food… And I thought, my God, I’m in another world here, you know? It was a great experience. I loved every minute of being in Puerto Rico.

While the base was still being built, we lived in an old…. I guess it was a serviceman’s quarters… and, we called it “Splinter Road.” Because, they were just old buildings, you know, that were up on stilts. And, my neighbor kids- we would get down and play underneath the house, playing Marbles and doing all kinds of crazy things while we were kids there. Rode bikes all over the place. And then, there was one beach that they called… When we finally moved onto the base from Arecibo… Well, I’ll take this back a little bit.

Before the base was built, we were still living in Arecibo on the North Shore. And, we’d ride the school bus all the way to the base, which was Ramey Air Force Base. And, I remember they had a strike there they called, “publicos,” the taxis.

All the taxis were on strike. And they said to be careful, you know, around these cars. Because, people were doing bad things to these cars- they were flattening the tires and things like that as a revenge, I guess for the taxi Union or whatever was going on there.

But anyway, after we moved onto the base, my buddies and I- we would sneak down to this cliff. It was called, “Devil’s Descent Beach.” And, we’d go down to the beach and look for shells, and we’d find octopus, we’d play in the reefs, and we found all kinds of old Spanish memorabilia.

There was an old Grist Mill wheel that was buried in the jungle there, that we played around with. It was just a great time. Once the base was finished, we were on the base and we had a nice home there. We went swimming all the time. That’s where I really started to swim a lot. It was just a wonderful experience.

It sounds like you had a lot of freedom there, when you were a kid.

Oh yeah, yeah. Back when I was a kid, there was freedom really everywhere I think, for kids. You know?

You could get on your bike and you could ride across the base, over to the golf course, and play with people… There was just total freedom on the base. And, we just had a lot of fun. And, played baseball- that’s when I first started playing Little League. And, I joined the Cub Scouts there.

In fact, let me retract just a little bit- When I was in South Dakota, I was on the Cub Scouts. I joined the Cub Scouts there. And, we had a meeting in one of the auditoriums one time and they had an Indian Chief who fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn. And, we all got to shake his hand. We’d go up onto the stage and shake his hand. I can always remember just the feel of shaking this man’s hand, you know, as a kid.

What did it feel like? (11:01)

It just felt like warmth and magic, you know? Because, he was so old. His face was just full of wrinkles. I don’t know exactly how old he was, but he apparently was way up there in terms of age.

But, that was something that I thoroughly enjoyed- Cub Scouts, going to campouts and things like that. And then when we transferred to Ramey Air Force Base in Puerto Rico, we did the same thing. We went camping and jamborees and… from there, we moved to Little Rock or Jacksonville, Arkansas. And that was where the base was.

Do you remember the trip going from Puerto Rico, to New York, and then to Arkansas? (11:50)

Oh yeah, yeah- it was on the Private William H. Thomas. It was a troop transport. And, my mother and I wanted to sail. And so, my dad flew- you know, he was in the Air Force still- and, he flew back. And my mother and I, we got on the ship… Actually, my dad had flown back too- he’d already gone back to get stationed there, but he flew back so he could sail with us as well, on the William H. Thomas.

We sailed from San Juan to New York. And, it was just wonderful. My dad was getting seasick… and, I just loved it, myself. We had a shuffleboard game on there, on the side deck, that we’d play. I can’t remember exactly how long the voyage took. I think it was probably somewhere… 15 days or so. But looking back, it was wonderful. I just loved looking out at the ocean and seeing the purity of it and the magic of it all. And, it really stimulated my dream to do it again, in some form or another.

When you were continuing to grow up in Arkansas, in what ways did you carry your earlier traveling and experiences with you? (13:13)

Well, just the fact that we had been places, we had traveled a lot. It was just exciting to see what was coming next. And, I just couldn’t wait to get to another place, to see what it was like.

So while we were in Arkansas, you know, I wasn’t a very good student in in school. I played hooky a lot. But, I still drew. I drew a lot of pictures. And, eventually…. Oh, a crazy time.

I was 16. I was working at a gas station in Jacksonville. At the same time, I had a paper route and I was delivering papers of the Arkansas Democrat every day. And so, I was being distracted from school, and I finally thought, “High school is not for me.” So I quit, while I was in the 12th grade. And I said, “Dad, please sign me up so I can join the Navy. I want to join the Navy.”

He said, “Well, you can’t join while you’re 16.”

I said, “Well, can you sign me up when I’m 17?”

He said, “I can do that.”

So anyway, he signed me up into the Navy. When I was 17, I took my oath.

And next thing I knew, I was on a bus going to San Diego, California, for boot camp. Right after boot camp, I was stationed on the USS Yorktown. It’s a Essex class, World War II aircraft carrier. I reported for duty… I think it was probably about one or two in the morning. Because, it was when the bus had arrived in Long Beach, California, and that’s where the ship was stationed.

The next morning, I went to the main office on the ship. And they said, “What would you like to do?” And I said, “Well, I want to work on the flight deck, if I can.” So, they assigned me to V1 Division.

I worked as a “blue shirt” for a little while on deck. Blue shirts, basically- when planes come in for a landing, you grab a chalk to chalk the wheels up, after they land. And then, you help move them around to respot them for the next launch, or if they’re going down to the hanger deck for repair.

I evolved from that into what they call, “Repair Eight,” which is a crash crew. I was trained- I went to Damage Control school, to learn how to save Pilots in planes on fire… and, that sort of thing. But at the same time, I drove a tractor to pull the planes around on the flight deck. And, that’s what I did the whole time I was on, in the Navy.

After I got out of the Navy, I went back to Arkansas and worked as a commercial artist for an advertising company… And, evolved into an art director at the same place. And, I decided I wanted to see if I could go back to school. Because, I knew I needed to have some better education. So, I took my GED test- Or actually, I took the GED test while I was in the Navy. I took an entrance exam at, it was called, Arkansas State Teachers College.

I took my entrance exam and passed it, and they said, “Well, you’re accepted.” I couldn’t believe that. Anyway, I started going to school there. I had bought a nice little Fiat 124. I’ve still got it today, believe it or not.

Really?

Yeah, I’ve still got it. 1971. Yeah, it’s in my carport- she runs great.

Wow!

360, 000 miles on it. But, I would use that to go to school. I would go attend classes, and then I’d come back. And then, I’d work at the at the advertising center as an artist. And eventually, I broke out on my own again and started doing paintings on my own, and doing commission work. And, eventually… I had a desire to build a boat, and I knew I couldn’t really build the type of boat that I wanted to build in Arkansas. So, that’s when my wife and I planned to move to Florida.

I know that I’m kind of jumping around different places…

Oh, that’s fine! When you were young, what role did your grandparents play in your life? (18:46)

Very important. My grandpa was such a dedicated man. He was a farmer. His father was a congressman from Pennsylvania… Well actually, from Colorado, but he had moved from Pennsylvania. He was a Civil War veteran- he fought in the Civil War. And once the war was over, he moved to Colorado with his wife. His name was Joseph Reynolds. His wife was Sarah Reynolds, and my grandpa was born in Colorado Springs.

And to this day, my great grandfather- his ranch was called the “Reynolds Ranch,” and it’s still called the “Reynolds Ranch.” It’s the official mining museum for Colorado. So, you can go in and go through the tours. And, his house that he built is still there- they’ve restored it. And, the barn that he built is still there.

So, it’s part of the museum, now? (20:01)

It’s a museum, yes. And so, I’m just as proud as I can be of all that. But, my grandpa, he was born there in Colorado Springs. And, they decided they wanted to move to Arkansas after a while, to kind of get away from the cold. So, they eventually moved to Berryville, Arkansas, and my grandpa bought this land. It was about oh, three or four hundred acres, I believe, in Northwest Arkansas. And, he became a bank president. He was the bank president of the Arkansas National Bank in Berryville.

But my grandpa- when we were living in Arkansas, I’d go up and spend summers with him. And, it was fun. Because, all of his farm equipment was horse drawn- the two horses that he had were “Dan,” and “Pluka.” I learned how to rake hay with a sulky rake. After we’d cut hay, I would break the hay into nice lines so that the baler could come in and bail it.

But, it was just fun- you know, going out and helping him feed the cattle every morning, and he would milk the milk cow… come back, and they had a churner that we churned to make butter… I mean, it was just almost like an 18th century farm, you know? Because, he had a wood shop there, he had a machine shop. And, all of this was built by my great grandfather. He passed all that along to my grandfather, who basically taught me how to be self-sufficient.

If you needed something, instead of going into town to buy it, we built it. And, made it out of either machine parts or wood, or whatever. And so, it was just a wonderful experience to have someone like that show me how to get through life, without having to rely on somebody else.

What did your parents do for work, at this time? (22:35)

Well, my mother worked for a doctor, as a secretary. She handled bills, and that sort of thing. And when I wasn’t working on a paper route, you know, I was doing work at a gas station. My dad was still in the Air Force at the time.

My mother, she was wonderful. She always had her hobbies- I always appreciated the small paintings that she would do. She was a big influence on painting and drawing, on me. I remember, really as a small child, one of the very first things that I learned how to do was… She would say, “Don, let’s draw choo-choo train.” And so, we draw a train. And, I’d draw something different in every car. And we’d do that all the time.

And then, I would sketch my parents as well, and I’d sketch my grandpa. And, all of the neighbors that would come around- I would sketch them as well, sometimes, just to have fun.

My grandpa was a wonderful influence. My grandma was… she was a wonderful cook. When we were out in the field working, she would make bread, or donuts or something, and cinnamon rolls… I could be three miles away, and I could smell her cooking. We couldn’t wait to get back for lunch. And then, she had all of her farm lady friends, would come over sometimes for quilting bees. They always made things, out of old flower sacks and things… they made their dresses and the clothing out of feed sacks and things. It was just totally enriching for me, to have people like that around me.

It sounds like the creativity and the handmaking things really ran in the family. (25:00)

Oh yeah. You know, I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands. And, I think I may have been influenced by that Chief Indian. I can’t remember what his name was, but he… it was something… “Cloud.”

But, my hands have always been something I’ve relied on to get me by.

Has your grandfather’s farm stayed in the family? (25:31)

No. When he died… he died in 1961… and, it just broke my heart. And, that’s when I ran away from home. I was working at a gas station and… I just couldn’t figure out what to do after that. That’s when I wanted to join the Navy.

They held onto the farm for a while. But then my grandma, she couldn’t handle a farm that big. So, they finally put it up for sale. I can’t remember the couple that bought it, but they were really nice. And, I would go up occasionally just to see them. You know, just to be able to walk around the farm. And, I’d go out and camp out in the field sometimes.

I’d also look for arrowheads- that was one of the things my grandpa… When we would plow in the garden, we’d plow with a team of horses. And, I’d walk beside him as he was plowing. I would watch the plow scour the soil like a wave. And every now and then, I could hear this, “scrrrkk.”

And he said, “Woahh.” He’d reach down there and pull out an arrowhead and give it to me. So that farm, the land that he had bought, was apparently a site for Native Americans. Because, there were a lot of arrowheads right on that farm there. And, I’ve still got them.

I’ve got a wood stove at home, and I’ve got them circled right on top of the stove there, so I can pick one up and feel it and put it back down.

How was your early experience in the military transformative for you? Did you find what you were looking for? (27:29)

Well, in the Navy… Because my dad was in the Air Force, I felt comfortable around aircraft. And, that was one of the reasons I wanted to be on the flight deck all the time. But, it taught me discipline- good discipline, and discipline that you couldn’t retract. I mean, it was something that has stuck with me.

Working through all kinds of weather, you know… On an aircraft carrier, you work, no matter what the weather is. You’re working six hours on, six hours off- the whole time you’re out at sea.

And so, we would have blinding, gale force winds and we’d be on deck to recover aircraft, respot them so that they could relaunch. And, we did that constantly, really.

When we were in Long Beach for a while at one time, the ship went into Dry Dock. And one of my buddies, shipmates, and I decided we would like to take a course in industrial drafting in Anaheim, California. So, I had an old 1955 Pontiac. And, we had to dress up for this school.

So at that point, I had an uncle who lived in Anaheim, and we would drive to his house, we’d change clothes, and then we’d go to class. And then, we’d come back after class and get back into our civies again and go back to Long Beach and… Gosh, you know, thinking about all this stuff, there’s so much…

Where did you find the time to do that, if you were six hours on, six hours off? (29:32)

Well, while we were sailing, out at sea, that’s when we had to do six hours on and six hours off. We’d work six hours on the deck, and we’d go down and sleep for six hours. And then, we’d get back up and do it again.

It was just a rotation that everybody did, that was down in our division, and handled the aircraft. It was amazing really, how fast six hours would go, you know? You’d hit the rack to sleep, and you’d be out in just five minutes, you know?

And then one of the directors, he’d come in and he’d just pull the blanket off and leave it down there by your feet- So you’d have to get up. But anyway, it was a rotation that we had- crazy, but that’s the way it was in the service.

Why was it important to you that you still pursued your education, when you were in active service? (30:37)

Well, I just felt like I had messed around too much, as a kid- too many distractions- playing games, marbles, playing hooky… There were times when I would walk through the front door of the school, and walk out the back door, and just keep going.

I just felt like… I was mature at that point. I knew I had to get some education. I knew that if I didn’t, I’d probably end up, you know, as a bum or something. So, I went back to school. And, I pursued a degree in art, which I did very well in- I made As in art. And, English- that was my minor. I was very good at writing. For someone who failed high school, they said that I was doing pretty well, really. I mean, I made good grades.

Eventually, because I would stop going to school, I would work, and then I’d come back… And, sometimes I would take correspondence courses, you know, to get by… it took me almost 10 years to finally graduate from the college. At that time, it had been renamed the “University of Central Arkansas.”

But anyway, I graduated with an art degree. And shortly after I got out, one of my old art professors told me, “So Don, you know there’s a new program starting up that I’ve been asked to submit some names for this… by the ‘National Endowment.’ And, I’ve given them your name. Would you like to go down and meet with them down in Little Rock?”

And so I said, “Sure.” I got an appointment. I got my portfolio together, and took it down and I met with the director. I was showing her my portfolio and I was interested. They had already hired some other artists who work at other schools in Arkansas to do this, and they had been briefing people about it. You know, at this meeting that I’d gone to. It sounded pretty cool.

I showed the director my portfolio, and she said, “You know, this is exactly what we’re looking for.” And I said, “Well, what school would it be?”

And she said, “How about Little Rock Central High School?”

That would be the main piece, but it would be the Little Rock Public School District, is what I was hired to do. And so, there were 20 schools all together, over a four year period, that I would go to one day a week. I’d go to a different school each day. I would draw, I would do murals in the hallways, I’d sketch kids, you know, do character studies of them.

Sometimes, I would go down and I’d bring a piece of wood in and I’d carve it, just so that the kids could watch me work. And then times, the teachers would ask me to come in and do a demonstration on the blackboard, so I’d come in and draw something.

I was never really what they’d call an official “teacher.” I just was there to inspire other kids, to see what was going on. I would help them. They would say, “Don-” Or, actually… I’d go out on the playground, and they said, “Is you the Art Man?”

I said, “Yeah, I’m the Art Man.” So anyway, I’d draw them. I did a lot of sketches of the kids, and I’ve still got plenty of drawings of them in my files, back in the studio.

But, it was just fun to engage with the kids and show them how to take a circle and make something out of it, you know? And, draw a figure eight and two circles, and draw dogs, and people… I did a lot of Disney cartoons as well- I enjoyed drawing Pluto and Donald Duck, and Mickey Mouse. So, I could do those easy.

But, I’d show the kids how to start off with a circle, and just do continuous lines on that, to turn it into something. I did that for four years, and then I realized that after four years, it was time to move on.

So, that’s when we moved to Florida.

You seem like someone who really enjoys learning and enjoys a challenge. Why do you think you struggled with school? (36:06)

In school… Well, there were some teachers that were really inspiring. But then, there were some teachers that were just… I thought they were just so boring. I didn’t want to listen to them. And, I knew I could find something else to do.

School, at that point… I just had too many other diversions. I’d been to Puerto Rico, I’d been to South Dakota. I’d been other places, you know. And, I’d had so much excitement doing other things, that going to Jacksonville High School was just something- I mean, it was okay- but, I just felt like it wasn’t for me. And, that’s the reason I just bombed out.

Well, you were focused on other things. (37:08)

Yeah, I was focused on other things for sure. You know, I had an old Cushman Eagle, a motor scooter, and that’s what I would deliver papers with. And the Arkansas Democrat- every afternoon, they’d drop a great big bundle- two big bundles of papers. And, I would roll those up in a roll, tie with string, I’d put them in a saddlebag on my scooter… I think I had about 200 customers.

Every day?

Every day. I’d roll them, I’d put them out there, and I’d go on this one route. And at that time, I’d just grab one- I knew which house, and I would fling the newspaper from the scooter onto the porch, as I was still going down the road, down the street. I was really good at it- I could do the sidearm, you know, and throw them right on the porch.

And then, I’d have to go around and collect every month, the fee for that, and turn it in.

And if you did a good job on that, the Arkansas Democrat would treat you to a campout on Lake Ouachita, and other places. And, you could go down and do water skiing and things like that for a couple of days. It was fun- things like that were things that I really enjoyed.

And could you describe what your second Pacific Transit was like? (38:43)

Well, the first one was the West-Pac cruise, going from Long Beach to Hawaii, Hawaii to Japan, Japan down through the Philippines, and Hong Kong back up into Okinawa and everything. And, that was the first one.

Then with the second one, we basically did that, too. And at one point, we- this was before the Vietnam War started- we were going to be awarded an R&R Cruise, on the carrier. The R&R cruise was “Rest and Relaxation.” The captain was going to take us to Australia, on the aircraft carrier. We were all excited about that, because we’d already done our duties and everything. Anyway, on the way to the equator, we were all getting ready for the shellback initiation, which is a big celebration of crossing the equator. They would have Captain Neptune, everybody gets dressed up in crazy things, and they have a gauntlet…

Anyway, our task force had one destroyer in front, one in the back, and one on either side. That was our task force. And as we were steaming towards the equator- we were just about there- the captain came on the horn and said, “Men, I’m sorry. We’re going to have to do a 180.”

Two of our escorts- we thought they’d already put the hammer down, to get there, for us. But, they had orders to peel off and go up into the Gulf of Tonkin and draw enemy fire off of North Vietnam. And so, that’s what they did. And, that was the Tonkin Gulf incident- two of our destroyers, our task force- they were involved with that.

“Turner Joy,” and there was another one… I can’t think of it at the moment… I can remember it after a while, but… So anyway, we went back up, and that’s what we did for 37 straight days. We flew sorties. Men were flying missions off, over Vietnam.

But, our carrier was what they considered an “anti-submarine warfare carrier.” So, the planes that we had on board- we had two squadrons that would go out and drop sonobuoys in a grid, so that if a submarine was coming into this area of the ocean, their position could be detected.

And then, we had another squadron that could sink that submarine if they wanted to, if they didn’t acknowledge who they were and where they were going. And so, that was our mission- it was to track down enemy submarines. And, we did force about three to come to the surface. Otherwise, they would have been taken out. Russian, Chinese.

So, that part right there. After the 37 days, we pulled into the Philippines to restock. Then we came back out, and went out for 42 more. And then after that, we sailed back to Long Beach, California, or San Diego.

That was my contribution to the Vietnam War.

I am considered a Vietnam Veteran because of that. We all were awarded the… it was a medal- I can’t think of the name of it right now- Armed Forces Expeditionary medal, I think is what it is.

Anyway, it was a wonderful experience. I’ll never forget it, and I was proud to serve. I would do it again, if I had to. The experience being on a flight deck, watching planes come in and taking off. One night, we had one plane that kept missing the arresting gear. And, I was sitting on a tractor. And, I heard the flight deck officer saying, “He’s got one more chance to land. If he doesn’t, he’s going to have to ditch the plane, and we’ll have to pick him up in the ocean.” It was at night, I was watching them come in, and I can tell he was coming in way too fast. He was coming in hot.

He hit the flight deck, and he caught the arresting gear, but he was coming so fast that it basically disintegrated the airplane. And, all the wreckage flew right off the number two elevator.

And, we thought he was dead. But, we saw the ejection seat go up- it was a red flare that went up. He made it out. He broke his wrist and ankle, getting out as he ejected. But, we picked him up.

There were a few others that we had to… crash landings. We had to rig the barricade one night- it’s a barricade, if there’s something wrong with the aircraft and they want to save it. Say, if the arresting gear or the hook doesn’t come down, they’ll go into this barrier… But, exciting times, and no doubt about it. It was very exciting times to be on a flight deck.

How were things different for you, when you returned home to Arkansas at 21? How did you know that you were ready for college? (44:58)

Well at 21… The only reason I got out at 21 is because when I went in, I was 17. And, if you go in before your 18th birthday, you get out the day before you’re 21- they called that the “Kiddie Cruise” program, back in the day.

And so, once I got back to Jacksonville, I had already taken an industrial drafting course. So, my first job- I got it with the Arkansas Highway Department. I was a cartographer trainee, and I was drawing city maps for the state. I had tools to do that. But, we’d take aerial photographs, and they would pass those on to me, and I would transfer those onto paper and do a road map, you know, of a town.

So, I did that for about six months. And then decided, “Well, I don’t know… I think, maybe… I need to go back and try to get some education.”

So, I did some night school work to brush up on basics- math, and… whatever. And, that’s kind of when I was working… I got a job as an Assistant Art Director for this advertising firm. And, went to work as an Assistant Director for doing advertising- ads for newspapers, magazines. We did a few TV commercials, and things like that.

But, I was working with a great photographer in Little Rock. And, we would take his photographs, and we would embellish them. And then at that point, I started getting commissions from doing watercolors on the side, and paintings, and that sort of thing.

And then, it just evolved from there… Evolved from that advertising agency into another advertising agency. And, that’s when I became the Art Director for that.

We had some very good clients- Kroger… Blue Cross Blue Shield, was another client. I did illustrations for them. I knew that eventually, I’d like to start a family.

I remember one night in in the office… A lot of times, I would work all night, because the writers would come in with a script and say, “Don, we need to have this in the morning.” And, that would be at five o’clock in the afternoon. I’d be working all night long, to get an illustration for this particular ad.

And, I was in the office working one night, and the cleaning lady came in, a black cleaning lady. We would chat, you know? And she said, “Son, you’re not living your life the way you should. You and your wife need to have a baby.”

So, the next thing I knew, my wife had gotten pregnant. And, we had our first child.

Well, we only had one child- Allison, she’s a wonderful lady. She works in real estate in this area, and she’s our neighbor- she’s got the house next to us, you know. We’ve got five acres all together, where we are. She watches our house when we’re gone, and we watch her house when she’s gone on vacation. She’s married and…

She stayed right next to you? (49:18)

Yeah, yeah. We actually bought the house next to us, for her. And my grandson, he’s living downstairs in our guest room, at our house right now. He’s an accountant- he works here in Orlando. And, he’s also got his own side business- he sells vintage clothing, you know, the kind that have holes in them, or t-shirts that were printed for a major concert, or something like that.

I gave him some old Levi’s that I had… He turned around and sold them for seven hundred dollars a piece! Because, he knew what the label represented on the back. Anyways, it’s just crazy stuff.

What were some early artistic inspirations for you, when you were studying art at the University of Central Arkansas? (50:08)

Well again, murals, paintings, watercolors… I did that all the time, really. Wood carving- You know, my dad, he built a lot of furniture. When we were in Puerto Rico, we had access to Haitian mahogany. And so, he taught me a lot of woodworking skills, which I related to boat building.

But, painting and drawing, which is something that I’ve always done… And, inspired by other students, when I was going to college. We had exhibitions. And, I’ve still got tons of them, you know, but they’re out there.

I was reading that you carried a paperback of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks? (51:16)

I did- all through college, and I gave it to my grandson. It’s downstairs right now. It’s a little paperback, and I could carry that in my back pocket, you know. And, I’d read one page… I could learn more in one page of reading his notes, than I could going through a whole class of learning. I mean, it’s just… his words… And, that was one of the inspirations to go to Italy. You know, to see where this man grew up, and the work that he did there.

It was just something that I was turned on to, and really inspired to learn more about- How he drew the Vitruvian Man, the one that his arms are out, with a circle around it… And, I did a drawing of Leonardo, and it’s in my studio now.

But, it was just a total inspiration to read about this man, and read about the other Italian artists- Michelangelo, Donatello… All of them, really. I mean, they’re just fascinating.

And, that was one of the reasons I wanted to sail to Italy, you know, build a boat capable of doing that. That was the inspiration to build the boat, and not just sail on an ocean, but to sail to Italy. That was another part of the dream that came true.

The boat- I’ve been working on it, lately. I was actually on it yesterday. She’s still in the water after 30 years- launched her back in 1995- sailed thousands of miles on her, and hope to do a few more.

Why do you think you felt connected to these artists? (53:26)

Well, I just love the way the Leonardo drew. You know, the characters that he drew, the people, the perspective… the precision that he would put into his drawings. I just found that fascinating, because I could relate to it. You know, in terms of shadows and how he would use the five elements- the line, shape, value, texture, color. Those are the five fundamentals of art, and that’s what I use in my everyday art.

When I look at it, I can see the value of light to shade. I can see the linear aspect of it. I can see the color, the texture… All those things- if they’re working together in harmony, you’ve got a nice piece of art, I think. And, that’s what he did.

The fact that he took apart bodies, you know, so he could see the inside of people… I mean, when you think of the discoveries that he made, that has contributed to medicine and everything else in this world… Not only that, but inventions, and… it just blew me away, really, to think of what might have been going on in his mind, back in those days. A very inspirational figure in my life.

Can you describe how you met Lynn? (55:09)

Yeah, Lynn was… she actually was the girlfriend of one of my friends. Yeah, I had a good buddy, and he was dating Lynn. And after a while, you know, they decided they’d split up. And… so, I asked her out.

Her dad was in the Air Force as well, so we were able to communicate and relate to each other very quickly. And, we just fell in love. And, decided we’d try to get married, you know, and see how it would work.

She was going to the University of Arkansas at the time, and I was a student down in Conway, Arkansas, going to the State College of Arkansas. And, I convinced her to come down to State College of Arkansas. So she did that, and then we got married.

We had a little trailer that we were living in, while we were going to school. She graduated before me, of course. I was working part-time, going to school, working part-time… And, she got a job as a teacher in Jacksonville. So, that’s what she was doing, as a teacher. And, it’s just been a harmonious relationship all these years.

What did it feel like to finally graduate? And, what did that mean to your family? (56:45)

I know it made my dad proud, and my mother proud, too. Because, they knew that I had bombed out in high school. My dad bought me a class ring. He just was pleased, to no end, that I had accomplished something like that- that officially, I had graduated. He really enjoyed that part of it. I made him proud.

You know, when I got the job as an Artist in Residence for the Little Rock Public Schools, they had me on TV one day- Interviewing me about what it was like to go to different schools, and see the reaction of the kids to drawing, and having the experience of seeing how all of this stuff was done… And, we were all at the dinner table one night, and they had some guests over at my parents’ house. And, that’s when they had me on TV.

Everybody scrambled, going to the living room to watch this interview. Which, was kind of funny. But, it made them proud. And it made me proud, too, that I finally had accomplished something, you know, that they could talk about.

You’ve used the materials of the masters, but at this time, when you were working as the Artist in Residence, you were building things out of broken playground equipment- swing sets, pipes, rods, wires… Who do you think art is for? (58:21)

One of the schools that I enjoyed going to was… I don’t know what they had called it at the time… but, it was a class where kids could learn how to weld, and do machinery. And, I’d go out there sometime- I borrowed their compressor to do something at one of the schools. I can’t remember which; there were so many different things.

But, I noticed all of the old playground equipment that had been broken up, and they’d scrapped- it was a big pile out there.

And I said, “You know, why don’t we do something with this, turn it into some sculpture and take it back to the playground?” I said, “Well, let’s do it. You design it, and we’ll put it all together and do that.”

So, I would do wire maquettes, based on what I saw- old slides and pipes, and things like that. I would have the kids weld them together, and we’d have the crew go back out, and put them back on the playground so the kids could play on them.

I’ve got a couple of pictures, probably, that I could show you…

Of what you created with the playground equipment?

Yeah, yeah. Let’s see if I can find it… it’s in here, someplace. Aluminum… steel… Steel. Okay, yeah. Here we go. Here’s a bird- you can probably see a little bit of a bird there, with the wings down, you know? These pieces were bent like that. And then, here’s another…

You can hardly even tell that it was built out of playground equipment! It just looks like a sculpture.

Yeah, and this right here was like a flying saucer.

Yeah- it looks like a spaceship!

And, I’ve got a shot put up here on the top there, so… I remember that when we installed it, when they had recess, I had a camera out there and I wanted to see what the kids’ reaction would to it would be. And, they all scrambled. And, I got a picture of the one kid, he was going right for the top, you know? Just like, put his hand right on top, there- be the first one.

Then, I did time capsules- We’d get all these kids’ drawings, and we’d bury them in these rocks here, and make a pyramid. I tried to teach them that, you know, that this was a triangular… Just the basics, you know, to start something linear. You know, just simple things that they could hang on, and look at.

Here’s one of the students putting one of the pieces together, there…

They look like they could kind of take the shape of anything, too.

Yeah I mean, just abstract expressionism is what I looked at, and it was simple to do.

The welding kids could weld them together, clean them up so there were no sharp edges. You know, so kids couldn’t cut themselves or bang themselves in the head, or whatever. But, they loved it. And I enjoyed it, too.

How do you think engaging in art improves someone’s ability to solve problems? (1:02)

Well, I think engaging in art… If you can visualize what your needs are… You get your piece of paper, pencil, and doodle it out, you know? Maybe do a picture of it, you know? You see people doing sketches of an idea all the time. But, that’s what I’d try to do with the kids.

I’d say, “If you’ve got something on your mind, just start off with circles and draw a bunch of circles, here. And then, just start connecting them with lines- linear lines. And then, if you don’t like the way it looks, turn it upside down. And, work it on it upside down. And then, do scribble drawings as well.”

You’re basically just doing this (scribbling). And, I’d tell them… I said, “You know, there’s lines that will tell a story.”

I’d say, “Go to the board. Draw a nice, smooth line, and it tells you that you’re feeling good.”

Then, go up there and tell another student, “Go up there and do an angry line.”

And, go up there and do this… And, you can tell. Because, I could tell the class- I said, “Which one looks smooth? Which one looks happy? Which one looks angry?”

Well, it would be obvious, which one looks angry.

So, things like that- It’s simple expressions of lines and texture, and that sort of thing. But, it was just a good way to teach the five fundamentals. And, a lot of the students really picked up on it well. They’d come back with drawings and cartoons and show it to me, all the time. And I would comment on it, “Just keep it going- you’re doing well.”

When your family moved to Central Florida in 1978, what was your plan at the time? (1:04)

Central Florida… I had already had experience- murals, and whatever… Lynn didn’t have a job, and I didn’t have a job, and I thought, “Well, I’m going to get my portfolio together and I’m going to go downtown, and I’m going to shake some bushes.”

The first place I went to was “Catalyst Incorporated.” It was an architectural firm in Orlando. I went in… The owner was Brooks Weiss- I remember him. A great guy.

I showed him my portfolio. I said, “I’m just looking for work- I’d like to do murals or sculpture, or anything that might be available.”

He said, “You know what? What we’re trying to do in town- there’s a lot of scenes that we’d like to improve on- things that just have a negative look to them. And, one of them is this old building that’s next to a project that we’re building- it’s called ‘Gertrude’s Walk.’ It’s a walkway that’s going to run right next to the railroad tracks, right downtown. And, there’s this old building that is really decrepit, and it’s going to be torn down.

But for our opening, we’d like to have some artwork- maybe a mural on this old building.”

I said, “Yeah. Let me let me do a drawing of it.”

And so I did some research, and did an illustration of businesses that were in that area, back at the turn of the century. There was an old fire station, a foundry, a few others… I can’t remember all of them…

And he said that, “We’d also like to do something representing Gertrude.”

I said, “Who is Gertrude?”

And he said, “It’s the wife of the first mayor of Orlando.”

And I said, “Yeah- I can do something like that.”

So anyway, I did a drawing of Gertrude, and showed it to them. And they said, “This should work. Can you do something sculptural with it?”

I said, “Well, how about a bas-relief? I’ll carve it in wood, and we can cast it in bronze or aluminum or something.”

Which, is what we did. And, I’ve still got the original back at my home. And, I did the drawing of the mural and showed it to them, and they said, “Let’s do it.”

So, I got approval from the mayor. The illustration was accepted, and I got started on that in 1978. I did the mural, I think, just before 1980. And then, I did the Gertrude’s Walk Medallion as well- and, that’s still there. They’ve still got those.

I don’t know if you’ve seen those or not, but I’ll show you- got so many pictures here….

You seem like you have it all really well organized, too.

Yeah well, I’ve got a program here for selections, here… But… okay, maybe I forgot to get that one in there… maybe I’ve got it in “wood”…. Yeah, there’s just so much I’ve got- it’s kind of hard to keep track of all this stuff, really.

Here- this is what I did in wood. And, the wood is all driftwood.

When I was building my boat, I’d go down to Turtle Mound, over in New Smyrna. And, I’d walk down the beach- I’d walk South, and I would pick up driftwood that I could tell was good, either teak or mahogany or whatever had been washed up.

I’d load that up into my old station wagon, and I’d take it back to where I was building the boat. But, this was all driftwood that came off the beach.

It’s really pretty- It looks so polished!

Well, yeah, and it’s the same size as what they’ve got down there now, cast in aluminum. But anyway, it was an interpretation of Gertrude. And, they loved it. And they said, “Let’s cast it.”

And so, that’s what we did. We cast it in Orlando- at the time, they had an aluminum foundry here in Orlando. And, that’s where I worked on that particular piece.

It was a sandcast mold, and we cast one from Church Street, to Central, Pine Street… I think there was maybe one more, but… They were on the openings on the crosswalk, as you drive across at the end of the brick wall barrier. And, that’s where they’re hanging now. I think they still are.

Around this time, you did build a boat, as part of the “Dimensions” art festival at Lake Eola. Can you tell me about that? (1:10)

Yeah, Lake Eola. Well, it was one of those projects that… It was a crazy thing.

You know, they wanted it to have something to do with the water. And I thought, at the time, there was so much rubbish alongside the road- old beer cans and tin cans, you know? Coke cans and stuff…

And, you can take a Coke can, and if it’s been opened, you empty it. You can turn it upside-down, and it creates an airlock.

So I thought, it’d be kind of cool, if I was on a deserted beach somewhere and I had to get off… I kept thinking- how would I get off? I’d have to make a raft. And, if I had all of this rubbish on the beach… I could tie all these cans together, upside-down, and I’d have a flotation device.

And so I went down to “Scotties,” which was a hardware store at the time. And, I got some particle board with holes in it. And, I just kept collecting beer cans and soda cans and everything… And once I had enough of them, I made two layers of those, in-between these sheets of particle board. Or not, particle board, but a pegboard, I guess. Pegboard- so, I could stitch them together. And, so that’s what I did.

I got three four by eight sheets of it, stitched them together with two layers of cans upside-down, and it made a perfect flotation device. You know, like a raft. And I thought, “Well, maybe I can put me a sail on there, as well.” I thought, “If I had some bamboo or a shaft, and I could find some old material and sew it together… I’d have something to drive with the wind.”

So, I made that. I entered it in the contest. And, it won first place.

Oh, nice! And, you sailed it across Lake Eola, right?

Yeah! Yeah, I sailed around the fountain with it, you know. They got a picture of me on it.

But prior to that, I was testing it- I took it down to Lake Sylvan. We’re close to it. And, we had a collie at the time. And, the collie would always follow us everywhere I went- You know, I’d go for a walk, or go fishing down there…

I put it in the water. I jumped on it, and it was floating fine. I said, “Come on, Lynn- jump on it!” So, she jumped on it. Of course, my daughter was there with the dog, and they both jumped on it as well… So, we were all- a whole family was floating on this.

And, it supported you?

Yeah! Oh yeah, it was perfect. Very stable. Didn’t go down at all.

Were you able to steer it?

Yeah- I made a rudder for it as well, so. Had a little bit of a breeze… But, I got out on Lake Eola, you know, during the contest, and sailed around the fountain with it. That was fun.

Yeah, it sounds fun!

I think there was a picture of that, you know… But anyway, back in the good old days…

When you were creating these larger-than-life murals and works of art, did you have any scares, ever? What safety precautions did you take? (1:13)

Oh yeah, there were a couple of them. One, when I was doing the one here for the library, actually.

We had a storm- You know, in the afternoon, we have the storms. And, the way I would rent the scaffold- I’d rent it for 28 days. So, I knew I had to get as much done in 28 days as possible. So, I worked seven days a week on it.

And one afternoon, the storms are building, you know? The wind was getting up. And of course, you have all these buildings close together- you have a Venturi effect. That is, when the wind is channeled in-between two buildings, it really increases the velocity of it.

Well, on the scaffold… The way I paint the murals is I have a gallon of red, a gallon of yellow, a gallon of blue, and I have one of white, and a little bit of black. And generally when I do the painting, I’ll just take my brush and I’ll dip into each one, to do the color of the primary colors. I can go from blue to yellow- paint green. Things like that.

So, you’d just mix it on the spot?

I’d just mix it on the spot. So anyway, all the cans were about… well, they were not full, thank God. But, this microburst came in and hit the wall with this incredible force of wind- And, it blew the scaffold back about six feet away from the wall.

I said, “Oh, great God!”

And, as we came back and hit the wall- I was way up there- I was looking at all this, and I was thinking, “All this paint’s going to go all over the wall!”

The cans slid right up to the rim, there… and, the paint went right up to the rim… and then, back down.

So, it didn’t come out?

No. Oh, my God… But, that was a scary moment on that one, there.

And then, there was another one I was working on- the Convention Center parking garage on International Drive. And, that particular scaffold was real long- it was 40 feet long. And, there was a joystick that you could control, that had a motor on both ends- So, you could control the angle. And… this joystick was having problems.

I was way up there again- another day… and, it got stuck.

One motor got stuck, and the other one was not going.

So, you were at an angle?

Yeah- so the scaffold was going like this, and I thought, “Oh, good God.” I was down here (on the lower edge), and I scrambled up there (to the highest point). And, I finally hit the emergency button to stop it.

But by that time, the paint had slid down, and one of them had fallen off the end of it there, and hit the ground. There was a little bit of paint on the ground.

Seeing all these gallons of paint sliding down to the end of it… Thinking, “Oh, good God.”

But, that was another lucky moment. Because, one fell off, but it didn’t have much in it. And, I cleaned up my mess, there. After I got the scaffold working again, I was able to lower the whole thing down.

But, things like that happen.

When I was doing the AT&T one… I didn’t really have any problem with that one at all. It just was up high. And, a lot of people were saying, “Hey, how you doing up there? What are you doing? What are you painting?” And I said, “Well, you’ll find out.”

I’d chat with them a little, sometimes. For the one for the library, that was always really interesting. Because, I’d be up there working… And restaurants, or the food eateries or whatever… They’d come out to the bins- they had garbage bins there, you know, in the parking lot.

They would dump all the garbage in there, and then within five minutes, after they had left, a homeless man- or somebody, would come by. And, they would start sorting this stuff out- this person would take so much… then five minutes later, another person would come in and take so much more out…

It seemed like they had a team- this one would get the bread, this one would get the whatever… and, so forth. They had it divided up. But, they were all typically homeless people- they would have a backpack, and they would put the stuff in the backpack… It was all leftover food that they were salvaging out of the bins.

And, a lot of them would say, “Hey, hello up there!” So, that’s how I named the painting, “Hello Up There.”

How did you encounter public apathy towards the arts, when you were Seminole County’s Cultural Coordinator? (1:19)

Well, that was another project- it was a program called the “Central Florida Arts Council.” I’m trying to remember the lady who started it- she was from Seattle, I believe. Anyways, there was a team of us- about five or six of us. And, we were all artists. But prior to that, I’d gotten another job with the Council of Arts and Sciences in Sanford. I was working up on the fifth floor, there.

And, I did a mural in Sanford- I did the very first one in Sanford, just to kind of get people aware. And, I did it for free.

But, it was one of these government-sponsored programs that I got involved with. And, the funding had run out on it. That’s when I got involved… Hansen Mulford was on the team with me.

And, Hansen was the art director of the Orlando Art Museum. I think he’s retired, now. But, we would go around to different places and do murals… there was a park that I did a mural for… But back then, I mean, it was just hit and miss, you know? There wasn’t much interest in art, anywhere.

I remember people would ask me, “Are you the one that do that Muriel?”

And I said, “No…” A “Muriel” was a cigar, you know?

I said, “If you want me to paint a ‘Muriel,’ I’ll paint a big cigar.” Crazy stuff.

But, just bouncing around… You know, working part-time here, part-time there, and doing commission work. I had friends who would commission me to do a painting for them. And, it was an easy way to make money, for me. At the same time, building a boat, building the house…

Built a “Jim Walter” house. We got it started- And, there were three of us that put the house together. And then after it was framed out, I finished the rest of it. I did all the wiring, the plumbing, and all the detail work.

So, that’s the way a starving artist has to work, I think. You know, you just do most of the work yourself. And that way, you know, you’re not in debt- That was one of the things my grandpa taught me, and my dad- “Don, don’t go in debt. If you can’t buy it, build it. If you can’t build it, wait until you can.”

The house that you built- it was a treehouse?

Well, that’s what my business was called, in the beginning- the “Treehouse.” So, my house is on stilts. I was using the downstairs portion of it as my studio, because it was out of the weather and everything. And, that’s where I did all my work. Until, it evolved… And then, turned the downstairs into a carport and a guest room. Got a picture of it somewhere, here…

So, you built the house. You were building the boat. Was there anything else that you built on the land?

I built the studio, as well. Here’s my house, right there (pictured). So, you can see the carport, there… I enjoyed building things with rock and stone. So, I got all my native stone- to do the outer walls on the lower half of the house. Here’s another picture- that’s the front of the house… And, that’s my studio right there…

There’s no blank space on the walls!

No, that’s the thing about painting- you know, you run out of wall space pretty quick. I’ve got paintings stacked like that, on top of each other…

And, we have a lot of critters that come around. There was a bear climbing up the tree right next to the studio! The front door, I carved… And, bits of furniture I’ve carved… I carved a lamp, there…

So later on, between 1994-98, you were a member of the U.S. Culinary Team as a Design Consultant. Could you explain this experience? (1:27)

The way I got started- I was doing a water wheel for a friend, here in Orlando. And his partner, Fred Rodgers, was the Chief Interior Designer for Disney. He had worked with Disney out in California.

But, he had a house here, and they were building this mill house. The way it got started- I was working on the sculpture that was going into the Barnett Bank building. And, I was at the foundry, here in Orlando. And his partner, Francis Martin, was the writer for the Orlando Sentinel- he did all the “artwork” writing for the Orlando Sentinel at the time…

Anyway, he came out to check on this big piece of aluminum sculpture that was going into the Barnett Bank, that I was working on. So, he interviewed me out at the foundry.

And he said, “You know, I’d like for you to meet my partner. Because, he is thinking of doing something with the house next to our house.” And so, I was introduced to Fred Rodgers. And next thing I knew, I was doing this water wheel for their home, there. It’s still there.

They were having a party there one night, for the opening, after I’d done the landscaping and a waterfall and everything. Dick Nunis and his wife (Mary) were there, and there was another man there who was within the culinary team… But, Fred was responsible for helping the U.S. culinary team come up with a design for the exhibition table.

And, he asked me if I’d like to maybe try to come up with a concept for that. And I said, “Sure.”

So, the first one was a little bit like… I think it was out of the “Superman” movie… Where all of these ice crystals and everything were coming together- they said, they’d like to have something themed, like that.

So anyway, he introduced me to Keith Keogh, who was the head of the U.S. culinary team. And, I don’t know if you know about the culinary team, but when they had their competition that’s called “The Culinary Olympics.”

They usually meet somewhere in Europe. But, they had talked to Fred about sponsoring the event at Disney. And, that’s how I got involved with it.

That was when Disney made all of their own food out there. They cooked everything for the park out there. To make a long story short… Keith Keogh wanted me to design this centerpiece table for their competition in Frankfurt, Germany. So, I put this all together. We set it up out at Disney for a presentation, as a practice session. And, everybody loved it.

I packed it up. We had it ready. So, when the event happened in Frankfurt, Germany… we had this huge table- it was 15 feet by 15 feet, I think. The chefs had all of their food, and the training and everything. All the apprentices, they’d go out to the market at two o’clock in the morning to get the first dibs on everything… But, I was there just to kind of help- sample the food, you know, and whatever. But, we set this thing up in Frankfurt and it won a gold medal.

It didn’t win first place, but it won a gold medal, for a number of things. There were a number of chefs that got awards. So, that was the first win of the team. Then, the next time was two years after that, I think.

They were going to have one in Berlin. And so, they asked me to come up with something for Berlin. Each time they do this, they have a theme that they go by. And, the theme for this one was spices- how spices affected the cuisine around the world- how they influence the chefs of different countries.

I carved this big star out of mahogany. And, I had a different spice on each one of these… A compass rose, is what it was. In the center of the compass rose, I had a foam world, showing the continents and everything. And, all the continents basically had spices coming from that country, creating the land mass.

You know, like cinnamon was coming out of Asia and places like that. But, I had it glued to the foam. And so, it had a nice aroma.

Most of the… they had ice sculptures, and stuff like that. But I had to create something that would be stable for probably a week, you know, without any refrigeration or anything like that. So, the spices did the trick. I watched the judges when they were coming out, and they were looking at all the other tables… And, when they got over to our table, they were just doing this (smelling).

And I thought, “Oh, boy. That’s pretty good. They like it.” So anyway, they won some awards on that one as well.

Then, the following year was in Luxembourg. And that year, the theme was indigenous diets, indigenous people- how they basically prepared their food, and how it influenced American cuisine. So, I made what they call a “chickee,” which was basically like a tipi that would go up… And, there would be a platform that would be up about table height.

They would put all their food in there, so it would be off the ground and it’d be away from the animals, you know. So, that was the theme for that. And, they won first place. So, that was a World Cup winner.

God, that was a great feeling, you know? Knowing that, America had won the cup, the World Cup on that.

The one in Frankfurt was held in the building where they built the Zeppelin- the huge airships. My God, that thing was so huge.

But, all of these chefs from all over the world- they would have their own little key, where people could walk by and just sample this, sample this, sample… It was all free. And, it was the best food I’ve ever eaten in my life. I mean, they had rotisseries… and, they would just beg you to try it, you know? It was wonderful. It was a great experience. So, I did that for three years.

And this whole time, you were still building the boat? (1:35)

Oh yeah, building the boat, and the house…

And then you finished it, and set sail 1999- What was it like to finally make it to Italy?

Oh my God, it was wonderful. Well, in 1998, we had started off… we were going to try to get off in ‘98. And, we had a compass problem.

I noticed a bubble in the compass. And so, we had to change plans. And that year, we just went ahead and sailed all the way up to Maine and back. I had everything worked on. And then the next year, we decided it’ll be 1999, we’ll take off. So… We’ll leave this continent in one Millennium, and come back in another one.

It was a wonderful cruise. We left Ponce Inlet, we took eight days to get to Bermuda, we were in Bermuda for about a week, and then we took off and sailed to the Azores. Just so happens, they had a weekly concert in the Azores, which was just absolutely fabulous! You could be on your boat or anywhere- they’d have these bands that would come off from the mainland and Europe. And, each night was a different type of music. One night was Jazz, another was Classical, Rock… You could listen to all this under the stars. And, it was just fabulous!

From there, we sailed on to Portugal- that was another eight days… It was 36 sailing days, all together, to get across…

We went on down to the Rock of Gibraltar. I went into Gibraltar, and went up the Spanish Coast… And then, crossed over from Alicante to the Balearic Islands, went through Ibiza, Palma, Majorca, Menorca… And then from there, we sailed to Sardinia. And then from Sardinia, we thought, “Well, let’s go up to Bonifacio.” Because, I knew the straits there were crazy.

It’s another Venturi effect- where the wind gets howling, even though it’s a clear day. So, we sailed into Bonifacio, and then back to Sardinia, and then on to Rome.

Sailing into Rome… It was just unbelievable. I don’t know how to explain it, just… You see the coast coming over the horizon… We sailed into Civitavecchia, which is basically the Port of Rome. And, got to know the Harbor Master there. We sailed there, for a few days, and we decided we would tour the city.

So, we rented a car and we toured Rome. At the same time, the Harbor Master knew that I was an artist. He wanted to have a mural done on the building there, at the at the harbor. And I thought, “Well, it’d be kind of neat,” you know, “But we don’t have enough time really, to get involved with that.”

We stayed in touch with him, as well. But from there, we sailed up the coast to Portoferraio, which is an island off the coast. And then, we met some other people that came off out of Livorno. And then from Livorno, we sailed up to Viareggio… Viareggio is a major, major ship building Port City. They build these massive yachts there that start off at twenty-two million dollars, just to buy one.

And then from there, that’s when I met Nicola. Because, he knew that I was coming over- I’d made contact with him via email. So, we met at the yacht club. I showed him my portfolio. And he said, “Well, come on in Monday. You can go to work.”

I worked there, in his studio. My first job was a huge saguaro cactus that he was doing for a client. Then from there, it was just a number of other jobs- that, he was doing… But, I was working on those projects for him- just to test my skills, carving marble… And then from there, it just evolved to even better and better and better.

I was in Italy back in May and June. And, I just can’t get enough of it, you know? For any client who wants to do anything in the way of marble- I’ll say, “Well, you’re going to have to send me to Italy to do it.” You know, because I can do it here, but the fact that we’ve got marble there- mountains of marble- Carrara marble. It’s the best marble in the world, as far as I’m concerned, to sculpt.

I have carved marble from Vermont, and Colorado, and other places, and Virginia. But, there’s something about the passion of Italian sculptors in Pietrasanta, Italy, that is just totally different than anywhere else I’ve been in the world.

And, when I say passion, it’s “passione” there. The work, the marble… That particular stone will just pull you into it. You don’t want to stop. You know, you just keep working and working and working and working, and you can work on it for years. You can go back and work on it after you’ve done something and completed it. It’s just magic to people who like to sculpt marble.

What did it mean to you, to sell a masterpiece that you had made to the mayor of Pietrasanta? (1:42)

What did it mean to me? It was just an incredible honor. Because, when he came in and saw it, it was still unfinished. But he said, “That’s the one we want.”

I was already back home at the time, and Nicola called me. He said, “Don, the city wants to buy your sailor.”

I said, “What? Really?”

And he said, “Yeah, they want to buy it. Would you be willing to sell?”

And I said, “Sure! Yeah, I’ll sell it!”

So, the city of Pietrasanta purchased it. And they told me- at the time- they’ve got about ninety pieces that they consider masterpieces, in that town. And so, I’m on record as being one of the ninety artists who have contributed to this city.

Actually, it’s a town. This is where Michelangelo signed all of his contracts- he worked there. And, it’s right next to Carrara. It’s just a magical place. You can walk into any studio, and you can just be blown away by what you see.

It’s just incredible. It’s difficult to explain in words- you almost have to just see it and feel it, to understand the magic of it. The thing about Carrara marble- there’s different grades of it, of course. But one day, Nicola and I were in the quarry- Michelangelo’s quarry. I pronounce it, “Mi-chelangelo.” But, we were in his quarry, and Nicola picked up this one chunk of waste- statuary marble. He said, “Don, this is statuary marble. You can have it- You can take this with you, if you want.”

At the time, I’d hauled the boat out. I was in dry dock at this little marina called Bocca di Magra, at the mouth of the Magra River. And so, I took it back, and put it underneath the keel of the boat. It got paint dripped on it while I was doing bottom-paint, and everything… But eventually, I took it back. When I sailed back, I put it down on the bilge of the boat. It sailed back with me on the boat, and it’s on our dining room table right now. And, it’s just perfectly balanced- you can move it around with your finger.

That particular marble- you can finish it. You can hone it. But when you polish it, the sun will penetrate the marble at least a half an inch. So, when you put it out in the sun, it looks like it’s glowing.

And if it’s a statue, the statue looks like it’s alive, almost. I mean, you can see the texture and the feel of the skin of the person, whoever it is. And it’s just totally magic, you know, to people who do this. And, I don’t know how else to explain it, other than you just have to see for yourself sometimes.

Having created so much with your hands, do your hands ever get tired? (1:46)

Yeah, they do. I mean, you can see, I’m always bumping my arms… You can see all the scars. They’re always under fire. Bumping, pushing against something… And then, my exercise- I go to the “Y” to swim, just recently, until the pool heater broke down. And, now I’m having to work on the exercise equipment. But, it’s all hand-related.

You know, I’m pulling cables down, and rowing, and all this other stuff. So, my hands do get stiff. But, they’re still functioning.

My right arm- I use my right arm. You see kind of, what (marks)… That’s by pushing things, and hitting things, and scraping things, and bumping things… It’s just endless. But, they’re hanging in there all right.

I’m sure we could talk forever. But before we finish up, do you have any big dreams currently, that you’re working to materialize? (1:47)

Well, I’d like to finish the pieces that are at the studio now. I’ve got a mermaid. I’ve got a swimmer. I’ve got a butterfly- Monarch caterpillar I’m working on. And then, what I’m creating now, Aida, is a sculpture garden on our property.

I’d like to be able to walk out and see this piece, and then have like a footpath, and walk around to see this piece, and this piece, and this piece… just, as a form of entertainment, and have it just for display. It may not be for sale or anything, but at the same time, I’d like to develop my studio, which is an open-air studio at the moment. One of them is.

I’ve got the other one closed in- I use that for clean work and drawing. But, the open-air studio was a stable that I had, when I had my horse there. I do all the dirty work, all the dusty work and stuff, there. But I’d like to close that in more, so that I can invite visiting artists to come out. And if they wanted, to come out and do a demonstration for people, showing how to sculpt marble… Or, do a piece on the property, and have it available for sale. I’d like to do that. I’d like to have that available- set up something similar to the Polasek Museum.

But, I’ve got paintings in one studio, and work in another… One of them is mainly designed for sculpture. The other one’s designed for drawing and painting… But, I’d like to have something I can leave behind that people can enjoy, and just look at if they want to. But, have it available to sell, too, for that matter. Sculpture Garden, and available for visiting artists to come and stay.

That was one of the reasons for the downstairs guest room. You know, if I had a friend come over. And actually, I’ve done that- Nicola has come over, and we’ve worked on various projects here in Central Florida.

We’ve done work for the late Dick Nunis, at his condominium over in Sarasota, and his home here. Nicola and I did the Veterans Commemorative out at UCF- a very well-known piece, now. And let’s see, there were a few others…

But anyway, just to have it available for someone who would like to come over, bring their piece over to sell, or to work on it here to sell. To have something to share with this community, here- that’s kind of my dream, at the moment.

Thank you so much for joining me today, and for sharing some of your stories. I know you have so many more. (1:50)

Don’t get me started here. Got a bunch more. But, it’s just an honor for you to even ask me to come out and talk about it.

I love art. I’ve always loved art. I like to travel. I find it endless enjoyment, and I like to share what I’ve done with other people. And, you’re totally invited to come out to the studio anytime! We’ll sit on the deck, have a cup of coffee, or a cup of tea or whatever you’d like, and we can go around and I’ll show you kind of where I’m marking these things out, you know, for presentation at a later date.

All right! Well, thank you so much.

Oh, you’re quite welcome.

For more information on Don Reynolds’ life and work, please visit this post by Kim P. here, featuring Reynolds’ collection of notes, news clippings, and vast portfolio.

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