Donna Dufault Fine Art Photography

07/15/2026

Hey, If you’re looking for something to do on Thursday evening, I have a recommendation.

My friend Rachel Morris is giving a free artist talk at Metalwerx in Waltham, and if you’ve never heard her speak, or seen her work in person, you’re in for a treat.

Rachel creates jewelry that is unlike anything else I’ve seen. It’s inventive, beautifully engineered, and full of really delightful surprises. The longer you look, the more you discover. She’s one of those artists who doesn’t just make beautiful objects-she makes you think differently about what jewelry can be.

As an artist - I always leave conversations with Rachel inspired. She’s thoughtful, curious, generous with her knowledge, and has a fascinating creative process. Whether you’re a jeweler, artist, maker, or simply someone who appreciates exceptional craftsmanship, I think you’ll really enjoy spending an hour with her…. Please come out and enjoy this evening with us!!

📍 Thursday, 6:00 PM
Metalwerx
50 Guinan Street, Waltham, MA

The talk is free, and registration is encouraged, seating is first come, first served.

If you go, let me know….I would love to hear what resonated with you.

More information and free registration:
Metalwerx Summer Artist Talks https://metalwerx.org/onsite-summer-artist-talks

06/27/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who voted for me in the art competition, shared my posts, left encouraging comments, or cheered me on from afar. 💛

I made it to the quarterfinals, which is farther than I ever expected, and now my journey here has ended- and honestly, the most meaningful part wasn’t the competition itself!!!!!!

It was being reminded just how many kind, generous people are in my corner!!!🌺🤩🎉🥰😍❤️

Every vote, message, and share felt like a little note saying, “Keep making your art.”

Look… As artists, we spend so much time alone—- making things and wondering if anyone notices. This experience reminded me that people do notice, and that support means more than I can say in a post, but I’ll try….

I may not have moved on to the next round, but I feel incredibly fortunate to have such thoughtful people cheering me on. Thank you for believing in me, for taking a moment out of your busy days to help, and for continuing to follow along on this wonderfully strange and creative journey.

Now… I think I’ll go back to photographing tarnished worn things, collecting rocks, and making my images….

Thank you, truly. I appreciate every one of you. 🥰

06/19/2026

Okay, so I’m trying something a little different here.

Instead of just posting a piece and wandering away like an awkward art goblin, I’m going to actually ask you something. Brave, I know.

This is one of my still life pieces...Beautiful Bruise. Made with the kind of worn, tarnished, slightly beat-up objects I can never seem to leave behind.

Some people rescue dogs...I apparently rescue spoons, shells, old silver, rusty bits, and the occasional mystery object that Scott definitely wishes I would not bring into the van. (Sorry Scott Erb -but this may end up next to your 29 million baby Grogu's that are everywhere in the van...)

But this is why I love them.

They have history.
They have scratches and beautiful tarnish.
They have done some living....

So here’s my question:

Where would you put a piece like this?

Kitchen? Bedroom? Reading nook? Hallway? That one weird wall you’ve been ignoring for six years?

I’m genuinely curious. I’m trying to get better at talking with people about where my work belongs... without turning into a complete dork and changing the subject to literally anything else...

06/10/2026

I’ve been asking people to vote for me in this artist challenge, and the funny thing is… it’s let me take a hot second and actually daydream.

Sure, of course I’m daydreaming about winning, lol. But it’s more than that. It’s made me think about what I would do if someone handed me $25,000 and said, “Go make your art.”

The first thing it would buy me is time.

Time to slow down. To pay attention. To follow ideas instead of rushing past them.

For the last few years, Scott and I have been traveling the country in our van, and everywhere we go I’m collecting little sparks. A tarnished spoon in an antique store. A cracked shell on a beach. A weathered tool. A rock. Some old lost something-or-other that catches my eye.

I’ve become fascinated by the things we usually overlook — the worn, imperfect, well-loved objects that still have so much beauty and story in them.

A grant like this would give me room to keep following that thread. To create new work, experiment, write, photograph, and keep building this body of work around aging, imperfection, resilience, and the beauty that comes from a life well lived.

I also keep thinking about turning this work into something bigger than individual photographs. Maybe a book. Something with images, stories, and reflections about finding beauty in what is worn, weathered, and imperfect. I think a lot of people, especially women, are hungry for that conversation right now.

More than anything, $25,000 would give me room to explore without rushing.

To create work that reminds people that the marks left by time are not flaws to hide, but evidence of a life being lived.

That’s the work I want to keep making.

So thank you for the votes, the encouragement, and for allowing me these few moments every day to daydream a little.

https://peoplesartist.org/2026/donna-dufault

05/29/2026

Beauty in photography gets dismissed sometimes, as if making something visually beautiful automatically makes it shallow.

I don’t buy that.

Yes, formulaic photography is worth questioning. Yes, social media rewards sameness. But beauty itself is not the problem.

A photograph can be beautiful and still have weight.
It can be carefully made and still be honest.
It can be quiet and still matter.

I wrote more about this on Substack... especially the false divide between beauty and meaning.

Read it here:
https://donnadufault.substack.com/p/to-those-that-complain-about-beauty

05/27/2026

We’re excited to be giving our lecture A Creative Look at Still Life Photography tomorrow night in The BlueHour Virtual Classroom — Wednesday, May 27, 2026 at 7 PM EST.

We’ll be sharing a creative exploration of still life photography, looking at how objects, light, color, and arrangement can come together to express ideas, mood, and personal vision.

BlueHour is such a great group - thoughtful, curious, creative, and full of photographers who genuinely love learning and growing. We’re really looking forward to being part of it again.

If you’ve ever been looking for an online community of interesting, creative photographers who enjoy learning, definitely check out The BlueHour Virtual Classroom: https://www.skool.com/bluehour

05/17/2026

It was access to these leaves that was the first thing that got me — yellow, orange, brown, fan-shaped, and dry enough that they felt halfway between leaf and more like paper.

The stamp was something I had picked up because of the color and the subject. I don’t collect stamps, exactly, but I am interested in how they are made. Someone designed this small lovely thing. Someone chose the figure, the blocks of color, the line work, the balance of it. I love it as a mini art piece...

And that old paper underneath came from a book I bought for the surface, not the text, I can not read it!! I liked the worn creases, the dark brush marks, the thinness of it! It's just looking handled and weathered.

And of course, the stones and bark-like textures show up in my pairings a lot. I like what they do next to more fragile things. Maybe because they make the paper feel softer?

This piece is really about surfaces talking to each other... dry leaf... old paper... feathery ink... stone, stamp, edge, crease, color, wear.

05/16/2026

Oh wow...I think I’m still in the running for The People’s Artist competition, and I’m honestly a little surprised and unbelievably very grateful.

My work and all these pieces come from a quiet kind of looking and noticing...

When I collect worn, found, weathered things like shells, rust, metal, scraps, bits of color, things that have been changed by time — and I arrange them into temporary still lifes before taking them apart again. They don’t exist for long, except in the photograph. Lovely art pieces that reminds us all about impermanence and aging- there is beauty there...

If that kind of work speaks to you, I’d love your vote in this next round.

👉 https://peoplesartist.org/2026/donna-dufault

And if you already voted, shared, or cheered me on, thank you. It really does help.

I Make Art To Turn Overlooked Objects Into Quiet Reminders That Age, Scars, And Imperfection Hold Beauty And Meaning.

05/15/2026

Its been awhile since I posted a Spoon image. I thought I'd share this one again. Afterall, I do love the beautiful blue of the cyanotype, borrowed from my friend Sara... My friends K and J gave me these spoons as a gift. Together they make me happy.