As a boy Don Weller drew horses and cowboys when he wasn’t exploring with his horse along the Palouse River or over the rolling hills that surrounded his childhood home near Pullman, Washington. Graduating from Washington State University with a degree in Fine Art, he sold his horses and moved to Los Angeles where he spent decades doing graphic design and illustration. Clients included Time Magazine, The Hollywood Bowl, The National Football League, the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and he created five stamps for the United States Post Office. Besides illustration and graphic design, he taught school part time, three years at UCLA, where he met his wife Cha Cha, and eleven years at the Art Center School in Pasadena.
Finally, Don realized he had seen all the cement and palm trees he could stand and moved to Utah. He and Cha Cha live in rural Oakley, Utah, with Eddie the border collie, two cats, and three horses who are bred to cut. Don creates western paintings and rides the cutting horses.
Recent awards include 2020 Western Heritage Award from National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for Don’s memoir, Don Weller: Tracks. Don was also awarded Lifetime Achievement award from the Los Angelas Society of Illustrators and an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the San Francisco Academy of Art.
