Imagine that you’re out with your buddies, and for whatever perfectly plausible reason, you decide to be “Scottish” for the evening. What would your name be? Probably something like Donald Macdonald, right? Or would that be too Scottish? Too obvious? Well, Donald Macdonald happens to be a real guy and he is, indeed, Scottish. Not just faking it.
Don is also a guy who (name aside) can throw a metaphorical curveball. The cheery, rosy-cheeked Scot prefers Budweiser over McEwan’s, reads a lot about cryptozoology (so basically, Nessie), and actually threw a boomerang of his own making at the World BOOMERANG Championships in New Zealand. He didn’t come in last.
At 44, he resides in the town where he was born. Golspie is a picturesque Highland village on the Moray Firth. While its beaches are award winning, its surfing is just okay. Don began surfing during his six-year hiatus to Cornwall, and has since become a regular at Thurso, which is about an hour and a half from home.
One of Don’s many talents is painting. He’s trained in “painting and decorating,” he explains.
“Decorating–like in people’s houses and stuff?” I ask.
“Aye, it pays the bills,” he says, “but I prefer art and surfing, and do a bit of fishing in the summer months–I think most surfers enjoy a good fish?”
While I’m sure Don is an exceptional decorator, his really impressive capabilities can be seen on the canvases he embellishes in his spare time.
Don has been painting for 37 years. “It just came to me and I drew and painted from an early age,” he says. While he took a couple of night classes at Aberdeen Art College, he is mostly self-taught. Don’s inspired by Rick Rietveld’s brightly colored (and kinda trippy) surf art. He says that his style is “ancient carved stones mixed with modern surfing themes–and also action scenes.” His paintings have a decidedly Celtic feel. So what about surfing in Scotland, anyway?
“What can I say?” he asks. “It’s cold but cool to surf in Scotland.”
