Cherokee Art: Donald Vann, Cherokee Native American Painter

Donald Vann is a Full Blood Cherokee painter who was born in Oklahoma. He paints the
emotions, experiences and lives of his Cherokee people and attempts to inspire the viewer
with a mystical quality.

Vann’s paintings are tranquil and reflect the solitude that he craves. He is as soft spoken as
the images he paints. His images convey the tradition and culture of his tribe in soft lines and
colors.

Vann wants his viewers to feel the snow beneath their feet, to smell wood smoke and pine
trees and to hear the whispering forest the Cherokees love.

He explains the reason he is driven to paint,
“All my life I have had this desire to paint. With images I can express thoughts and feelings I
could never put into words. Through my art I am able to transcend the limitations of the
spoken word."

Vann learned to love the earth and sky while camping with his grandfather or hunting in the
woods near his boyhood home outside Stillwell, Oklahoma. He was shy and was uncomfortable
in the classroom and painting became his escape.

Vann says, "I didn't fit in too well at school. Even the one art class I took, I flunked. But then,
I always thought education got in the way of learning. I was much more interested in the
teachings of the holy man for my clan and in the survival and herb skills my grandparents taught
me."

Donald Vann has become a world renowned painter as the value of his paintings skyrocketed.
People can feel nature in his painting and escape to the quiet place he loves.