Don Sahli’s pedigree as a painter began early, he started to show professionally in Taos, NM at the age of 15. At 19, Don was apprenticed to the Russian painter Sergei Bongart and was Bongart’s last scholarship student. In 1988 Sahli was invited as a guest artist at NAWA National Academy of Western Art at the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, OK. Known as a southwestern painter living in New Mexico, Sahli moved to the mountains of Evergreen, Colorado in 1991. There he established a home studio, raised a family and opened Sahli School of Art in 1995.
A plein air painter and teacher Don Sahli uses color as a tool to express form and emotion in his work. A prolific painter and teacher, Sahli travels widely, continually expanding his view and growing as a professional artist. Don has painted for over 40 years and teaching for 25. “Everyone looks for a label. I would like to be known as a painter – one who painted what he saw, and experienced while wandering around on their journey.” I am indebted to my “Guru” Sergei Bongart, I teach as he was taught. “I am a better painter because I teach; my students inspire me as we journey together.”
