Happy December! For the last Featured Artist Spotlight for 2019, NCLAC got the chance to chat with M. Douglas Walton, a talented painter whose work is centered around various experiences that he’s had throughout his life.

After receiving his Bachelor of Architecture in 1965 from Oklahoma State University, Walton did graduate work at Oklahoma State University while on a teaching fellowship. After leaving OSU, he began working with Haas and Massey Associates in Shreveport, LA, and eventually found himself teaching at Louisiana Tech University as an Associate Professor of Architecture in 1972. While at Tech, he taught classes both in architecture and watercoloring. Since then, he has led countless workshops and classes about watercoloring, painting, and the arts in general.

Most of his current art is part of an exhibition that is titled “Quake in Paradise: Echoes of Nepal.” These paintings reflect the significant impact and devastation caused by the Nepal earthquake of 2015--an event which he experienced firsthand.

Walton describes his experiences there amongst the natural disaster, recalling: “We found ourselves stranded on a remote slope amidst the Himalayan Mountains for 6 days and 5 nights. We had nothing except what was in our pockets. Within hours, more than 3000 Nepalese refugees were assembling a blue tarp village on that terraced hilltop. They too had nothing, but they gave us everything. Even during the turmoil, each morning the children would place rose petals on the steps to provide a path of beauty for the many footsteps of the day. I was forever changed, humbled, and enlightened in witnessing their humanity during the darkest hours.”

To view some of his work, make sure to visit his workspace: The M. Douglas Walton Studio. Walton creates much of his work here, and is the area where he is currently working on paintings for his exhibition in Columbia, LA titled “Art of The Heart” which opens February 7th, 2020.