Donna Cross
“Wealth” Annual 2
My childhood was spent growing up on a dairy farm in the South Wairarapa before computers, mobile phones, and even television. To enter a larger world, I would read any books that were available.
I haven’t got very good eyesight. I’m blind in my right eye and short sighted in my left eye. I lost the sight in my eye when I was ten, and I learnt that you can never take sight, hearing, or smell for granted. I’m never bored as I can always look at something (as long as I have my contact lens on) and find something interesting about it.
I always loved to draw but never thought to make it my profession until my last year at school, when I heard about design school in Wellington.
I’ve been making a living from illustration and design since I graduated.
I spent eight years in Sydney illustrating for magazines, newspapers, advertising, and graphic designers. Now I live in Breaker Bay, Wellington.
My home is also an art gallery. It’s called Three Eyes Gallery.
My favourite books were The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett, An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden, The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West, and the Anne of Green Gables books by L. M. Montgomery.
I listen to music all day. I make up very long playlists that I play on shuffle, so I never know what track or artist is going to come on next. The music can be any genre or era, but each track has to have what I call space. Like illustrating and art, the negative spaces make the music feel “right”.