Artist/Designer
Don Shepherd most often referred to himself as an “Artist/Designer.” It’s a good way to resolve describing someone who makes beautiful things that people can appreciate and use. But, from his first exhibit of paintings at the age of 17 in 1947, until his death in 2002, what Don made during his lifetime, and left behind, was so much more.
With everything that he created and every material that he touched — sacred spaces, sculptures, stained glass, murals, mosaics, paintings, textiles, furniture, architectural exteriors and interiors, public spaces, meeting spaces, outdoor spaces, works in concrete, metal, wood, stone, glass, canvas and paper — or even an arrangement of found leaves — Don was actively filtering the beauty of nature, ideas, history, traditions, rituals, stories, and beliefs, in order to articulate the values that he held most dear.
