Darla Donley was born in Battle Creek, Michigan. She has lived all over the country and made Florida her home in 2016. She lives with her family in Palm Coast, Florida, but spends the majority of her time in St. Augustine and New Smyrna Beach.

Darla began her art journey in early 2014 when her husband signed them up for a painting class. By lunchtime, Darla knew she wanted to pursue painting and teaching art classes as a career.  Her art journey has taken her all over the country, learning new techniques, and then painting five days a week to improve her skills. 

Darla has taken classes a variety of well known artists/instructors. Her niche is portrait painting although she does enjoy painting landscapes and seascapes.  She loves to paint people and wildlife. The portrait technique that Darla uses helps capture the depth and dimension of the reference photograph. 

Darla enjoys painting using a variety of techniques . . . portrait painting, traditional oil painting, finger painting, palette knife painting, and also likes to incorporate some fun art using acrylic and resin.