Don Yaun is a contemporary impressionist painter and plein air artist based in Buford, Georgia. He specializes in expressive landscapes, animals in scenes, floral works, architectural subjects, and historic Southern settings. His work explores light, color, texture, and atmosphere through a variety of approaches, from plein air painting to studio work, capturing the character and spirit of the places that inspire him.
His work has been recognized and published in AcrylicWorks: Best of Acrylics—where he has been a finalist five times, including the 13th Annual competition—along with Artist Magazine, International Artist, Modern Impressionist Magazine, and National Oil & Acrylics. In June/July 2026, he was selected among the Top 20 artists featured by Modern Impressionist Magazine.
His exhibition history includes the MCMA Metro Montage for 4 years, Art of Georgia State Capitol Exhibition for 3 years, Chastain Art Center, Fulton County’s Chasing the Light, Norcross Gallery, and seven exhibitions at Tannery Row. A one man exhibition at the Hazlehurst Jeff-Davis History Museum “Back to Hometown”. In August 2026, he presented a major 51-painting solo exhibition, A Sense of Place, at the Okefenokee Heritage Center in Waycross, Georgia.
Yaun has also expanded his involvement in the plein air community, receiving an Honorable Mention at the 2026 Blue Ridge Plein Air Paint-Out and being selected as one of 30 artists to participate in the 2026 Georgia Color Plein Air Competition. He has presented three live painting demonstrations, sharing his approach to building an acrylic painting from the ground up, from drawing and transparent color layers through final opaque passages and finishing decisions.
A 1977 graduate of Ringling College of Art and Design, Yaun studied graphic design and illustration before building a successful career in design, illustration, photography, and trade show exhibit design. He retired in 2020 and returned to his original passion for fine art, bringing decades of experience in composition, visual communication, photography, and design to his painting.
Yaun met his wife, artist Debra K. Yaun, while attending Ringling, and they married in December 1977. Today, he works primarily in acrylic and oil, continuing to build a growing body of plein air and studio paintings while creating original works and handcrafted custom frames, many made from hardwoods harvested on his own property.
