About the Author & Artist
Donna Peters is a beloved Southern artist whose warm, heartfelt paintings celebrate the beauty, history, and spirit of the American South. Raised in Northport, Alabama, just outside Tuscaloosa, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alabama, where she studied under noted professor Dr. Richard Brough. Early in her career she served as Curator of Exhibits at the University of Alabama’s Natural History Museum.
Today Donna and her husband, Lewis Harrison, operate Deep South Studio and Dancing Pine Publications from their home on Smith Lake in Crane Hill, Alabama. Working in both oils and watercolors, she is an avid plein air painter best known for her Landmark Series, limited-edition prints and originals featuring iconic Southern sites such as the President’s Mansion, Denny Chimes, Vulcan, Helen Keller’s birthplace at Ivy Green, and the charming fishing villages of the Alabama Gulf Coast. Her work also includes serene magnolia scenes, cotton fields, riverboats, and the four seasons of Dixie.
Through her art, workshops, and now the Lydia Lamb children’s book project, Donna continues to share stories of faith, family, heritage, and the simple joys of Southern life.
Donna Peters paints where the story begins, outdoors, on location, brush in hand. From the sunlit shores and fishing villages of the Alabama Gulf Coast to the timeless light of Italy, she captures the living spirit of each place in oils and watercolors, then carries those moments home to her easel.
Through Deep South Studio and her own Dancing Pine Publications, she transforms these plein air paintings into limited-edition prints and original art. Today she continues that joyful tradition, blending her on-location artistry with storytelling in her newest project, the beloved Lydia Lamb children’s books.
Donna Peters weaves her Southern soul into every brushstroke and page. Through Deep South Studio and her own Dancing Pine Publications, she creates limited-edition prints and original paintings that celebrate the beauty, history, and spirit of the South, then brings those same scenes to life in print. Her earlier book, The Swan's Garden, was published as the perfect companion to a matching limited-edition painting, inviting readers to step deeper into the peaceful world captured on canvas. Today she continues that joyful tradition, blending her art and storytelling in new ways, most recently through the beloved Lydia Lamb children’s book project.
