iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I recently finished "Saving Bambi", depicting a woman representing Mother Nature attempting to preserve wildlife and the vestiges of greenery from burning out of existence.

Original artwork by Don Maitz, depcited a woman and a fawn against a raging wildfire.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Several of my paintings are on display at the Imaginarium Museum in Singapore, hanging next to the books where the art was featured on the covers. Shown here are Crusade, The Keeper's Price, Lone Wolf, and Orphan.

Paintings by Don Maitz hanging in the Imaginarium in Singapore

"Crusade", the cover of Camelot in Orbit by Arthur H. Landis
"Keeper's Price", the cover of The Keeper's Price by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Paintings by Don Maitz hanging in the Imaginarium in Singapore

- "Lone Wolf", the cover of Lone Wolf Book 1: Flight from the Dark by Joe Dever

Paintings by Don Maitz hanging in the Imaginarium in Singapore

- "The Orphan", the cover of The Orphan by Robert Stallman

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

I took a three hour painting excursion to our neighboring Myakka River State Park. This new 8" x 10" oil painting was painted under the influence of an astonishing number of annoying love bugs.

Original art by Don Maitz. 3 palms stand over a grassy field.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

My most recent work: Casperon Surf is an 18"x24" oil on canvas work of a local shoreline. This was a great 'palette' cleanser after a more intense assignment.

Original artwork by Don Maitz. Seagulls fly over waves near a rocky beach.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

I recently sat down with Gold and Gunpowder for a wide-ranging interview about art, pirates, copyrights, and my classic Captain Morgan artwork.

youtu.be

Designing Captain Morgan: Interview with Don Maitz

YouTube video by Gold and Gunpowder

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Here is my annual twisted Holiday Card that I send out to friends and family. Wishing you all the best this season!

A Christmas card by Don Maitz. Front cover says "Santatize the Laundry" and shows a female elf next to air-dryed elfware.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

My latest plein air was painted in Rothenbach Park, recently reopened after being a holding ground for hurricane debris.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

Both of my paintings have progressed from Semifinalist to the Finals! Winners will be announced in January 2026.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Pleased to learn that two of my paintings are semi-finalists in the 18th International ARC Salon Competition, with the winners to be announced on Jan 5, 2026. "Evening Shore" is a semi-finalist in the Landscape category, while "Friend or Foe" is a semi-finalist in the Imaginative Realism category.

Evening Shore, original artwork by Don Maitz depicting ocean waves on a beach at sunset.

Friend or Foe. Original artwork by Don Maitz depicting a mermaid encountering a shark.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

And the finale in this project that lasted an eternity... Here is the wrap-around cover art for a new edition of End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov, coming soon from Phantasia Press.

Original artwork by Don Maitz. A man stands before a metallic console in surroundings like a space station. Beams of light emanate from his hands, outstretched to either side.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Here's the 3rd interior oil painting I created for a new edition of End of Eternity, titled "Embracing Eternity".

Original artwork by Don Maitz. Shows a woman with arms raised, walking down a narrow path that emerges from concentric triangles.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

The second of four paintings I created for an edition of End of Eternity (Phantasia Press): "Changing Eternity".

Original artwork by Don Maitz. A balding man smoking a cigarette looks at a futuristic console. On the screen is a man, visible from the shoulders up and surrounded by colorful textures.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Here's the first oil painting from my journey through eternity for Phantasia Press: "Stepping into Eternity".

Original artwork by Don Maitz, showing a man standing in space and stepping through a series of triangles towards a bright light.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

Switching gears from wizards and scallywags... I recently completed 4 oil paintings for an edition of The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov (Phantasia Press). I started with smaller acrylic color studies that served as a guide for the final art. Close-ups of each painting to follow next week!

Don Maitz gesturing at 8 new oil paintings on a black backdrop.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

A new painting to share... "Secret Tunnels of Marok" is a 24” x 18” oil on panel work. The art is based on a game and intended for a book cover: www.paravia.com/DonMaitz/art...

Original artwork by Don Maitz. A party of 4 adventurers confer near a trap door. In the background, a lit tower illuminates a castle.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

My oil painting, Picaroon, has just been juried into the 42nd Schaefer International Marine Art Exhibition at The Mariner Gallery in Newport, RI. It will open on September 18 and run through October 10.

Original oil painting, Picaroon, by Don Maitz. Depicts a pirate wearing a fancy hat at the bow of a boat looking back.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Here's a new painting for my Pirates Ashore collection... I started painting "Shore Leave" at Venice Beach as a plein air effort with the idea of using the scene as a background / foreground setting for some pirates to be added later: www.paravia.com/DonMaitz/art...

Original artwork by Don Maitz. Oil on canvas painting depicting a pirate on a beach. In the background are three other pirates. A ship sails on the horizon.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

Three of my preliminary sketches are available for auction through Heritage Auctions until July 9 -- two acrylic sketches and a watercolour in excellent condition: comics.ha.com/c/search/res...

3 preliminary sketches by Don Maitz: Beach Attack, Monsters & Magic, and Gods of Dawn.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

@jannywurts.bsky.social and I both have works on display in the Enchanted Brush exhibit at the Findlay's Mazza Museum in Findlay, OH. You can see "Arthur in Battle" and "Arthur Knights Lancelot" in the exhibit through August 29th.

thecourier.com

Legendary and Fantastical tales at Mazza

Museum presents 11th Enchanted Brush exhibit

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Jeff Brown and I recently chatted about fantastic and imaginative art with Jake at Nerd Level Rising.

youtube.com

Creating Fantasy Art | With Don Maitz and Jeff Brown

YouTube video by Nerd Level Rising

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

My oil painting, Blackbeard's Flotilla, has been juried into the online 2025 Art of the Sea Exhibition sponsored by the National Maritime Historical Society and the American Society of Marine Artists. It will be exhibited and on sale between 6/1 - 7/1: seahistory.org/art-of-the-s...

Blackbeard's Flotilla, an original oil painting by Don Maitz. It was inspired by the 300th anniversary of Black beard's 1718 blockade of Charleston Harbor and a visit to Bald Head Island where Black Beard's blockading ships passed by on their journey north.

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Reposted by Don Maitz

Janny Wurts @jannywurts.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Attention indy book community, cover designers, anyone art oriented interested in creating maximum impact on a book cover, while making the image 'tell the story' you want to present. A MUST VIEW VIDEO on Philip Chase's channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqhS...

youtube.com

Crafting Book Covers that Tell the Story: A Conversation with Artist Don Maitz

YouTube video by Philip Chase

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

I recently joined @philipchase90.bsky.social to talk about creating book cover artwork that effectively conveys the essence of a story -- no AI, no interchangeable stock images, just human creativity and years of study.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Recently got back from the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts. Here's a photo of a panel I was part of.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

My work, "Evening Shores", is juried into a local exhibition at the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) show, taking place March 7-21 at Palm Avenue Fine Art ,in Sarasota, FL: palmavenuefineart.com

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

My oil painting, Friend or Foe, was a part of the American Society of Marine Artists' first online exhibition in 2024. Less than 100 works were picked from 450 submissions. This artwork can be purchased as a giclée print from my Studio Shop: shop.paravia.com/don-maitz/im...

Friend or Foe, original artwork by Don Maitz

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Reposted by Don Maitz

Omar Rayyan @omarrayyanart.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

On my easel today: oil painting. 🐸 #art #wip #artsky #oilpainting #hoptoit

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Reposted by Don Maitz

Shawn Speakman @shawnspeakman.com · 11/02/2025

I've had the privilege to work with artist @donmaitz.bsky.social on many projects at @grimoakpress.bsky.social. My favorite is his work on my own fantasy novel, The Dark Thorn. He painted the below spread as well as illustrated 15 black and white interiors. The book will release this year.

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Reposted by Don Maitz

Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

THE CROSSING (1997) Oil on Canvas - 30" X 60" The uncertainty of and inescapable attraction to the concept of life after death. 1/2

In a grassy field stands a leafless tree with limbs bowing gracefully left. Bathed in golden light, bare branches twist and spread like blood vessels against pale sky. Shadow falls across a trunk mostly stripped of bark, and several splintered limbs lie lifeless on the nearby ground. Extending in a line from this gnarly detritus, mist rises off well-manicured lawn as if the ground itself is exhaling. A transparent sphere containing a single flame floats low across the land while a small stream meanders, falling directly behind the sphere as if guiding it along an intended path. Barely visible in a lemony wash that defines soft rolling hills, a white starburst—possibly another sphere blinking out—sits far afield, tinting the bushy topped trees that line the background distance.

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Reposted by Don Maitz

Janny Wurts @jannywurts.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

"A bad king revels in his importance. A good one hates his office. He spends himself into infirmity quashing deadly little plots to make power the tool of the greedy." -Arithon s'Ffalenn.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

I recently completed artwork for @shawnspeakman.com's Dark Thorn (Grim Oak Press). This unused cover art features the hero surrounded by magic weapons connected to empowered standing stones. Weapons grant power to knights who are portal keepers of legendary Celtic lands. 🧵1/5

Unused cover art for Dark Thorn by Don Maitz, provided for Shawn Speakman's Dark Thorn novel.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

The Wizard, an oil painting I began 50 yrs ago in Ken Davies' class at the Paier School of Art. His realistic painting techniques let me accurately render the impossible - levitating oneself, a book, a glass of wine, extinguishing a candle with a glance - all believable through the magic of a brush.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

In 1992, I was commissioned to create paintings for my fourth Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum national advertising campaign. Since I retained all other reproduction rights, I have decided to release these as prints in our Studio Shop: shop.paravia.com/don-maitz/se...

Captain Morgan in the Rigging by Don Maitz

Captain Morgan Sights a Prize by Don Maitz

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Wrapping up artwork for a special edition of Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford, to be released in 2025 by Centipede Press. This is my most recent collaboration with small press publishers. See others (including the Riftwar Saga and Stephen King novels) on my website: www.paravia.com/DonMaitz/art...

Signature pages from Dragon Waiting, published by Centipede Press.

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Don Maitz @donmaitz.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

Here is my annual twisted card that I send out to friends and family. Wishing you all the best this holiday season!

An elf drops a box of yummy fruit cakes on his foot, to the caption, "Happy OWlidays". On the back of the card is a santazon package.

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