Born in Redlands, California, in 1926, Don Crowley has been fascinated by drawing and painting since early childhood.  He recalls a particular crayon drawing that suddenly sprang to life and fired his imagination when he was only 14 years old.  During his later school years in Santa Ana, he read everything he could find about art and developed a lasting respect for the "Great Masters" and he spent every spare moment painting and drawing.  Service in the Merchant Marine and Navy enabled Don to enroll under the G.I. Bill in Art Center College, Los Angeles, where for five years he pursued a rigorous curriculum under strict discipline.  It was here that he met his future wife "B.J."  An interior decorator and fine artist in her own right, she take an active interest in her husband's career.  

After completing formal art training, Crowley headed for New York and a successful career in commercial illustration.  He became a member of the Society of Illustrators in 1954.  He felt professionally restricted in this work, however, and continually yearned to use his talents in a more personal and meaningful way.  The opportunity came in 1973 when he accepted an invitation to exhibit in a gallery in Tucson, Arizona.  One look at the Southwest convinced him that this was where he wanted to be.  With the wholehearted approval of his family, he sold their Connecticut home and moved  to Arizona. Crowley now paints everything from still-lifes to portaits, but concentrates on Paiute and Apache Indian women and children.  Several times each year he visits the San Carlos Indian Reservation, making sketches and taking photographs.  "I hope that through my work," he says, "these very special people will see in themselves the beauty and dignity that I see in them.