Skyward
Donald John Connolly
1931 – 2023

posted by Terry Higgins, CAHS Journal Managing Editor and Graphics Director
December 2023
Aviation artist, CAHS Member, and Canadian Aerospace Artists Association (CAAA) founding member Don Connolly with his “Flight: Dream, Myth and Realization” at The Grace Centre, Sydenham, ON, in late 2015.       (Frontenac News photo)
I was deeply saddened to learn of the recent passing of Don Connolly, a well-known Canadian aviation artist whose name will be familiar to many.

Don was a frequent supporter of our Society's efforts as a regular contributor of cover art for our quarterly CAHS Journal and our annual Canadian Aviation Art Calendar. On a personal note, he and his wife, Liane, were always a joy to work with in our projects, doing their utmost to deliver high-quality, print-ready digital iterations of this remarkable artist's stellar work.

His legacy is sure to live on in the thousands of works he created during his long career. Before Don became a full-time artist, the Connollys owned and operated bookstores in Ottawa. Before that, among other things, Don also had a career as a navigator in the RCAF.

The drawing reproduced below – a self-portrait of sorts – is from Don's 1982 book, Painting Planes, and depicts a young Don Connolly in "The goldfish-bowl astrodome of a Dakota navigation trainer. The caption accompanying this and a second drawing of him in the nose of a Lancaster notes that these were "two of [his] favourite perches during [his] salad days."
If you don't happen to have this beautifully illustrated and well-written book in your library, you can get a pretty good understanding of the artist's life and work on his page on the CAAA website and in the 14 December 2015 edition of the Frontenac News.
Don Connolly portrays himself in one of his "favourite perches."  Reproduced from his 1982 book, Painting Planes.

An obituary has been published in the Frontenac News, here. Don's daughter, Mary-Ellen has informed us that additional obituaries will be soon published in the Ottawa Citizen and the Kingston Whig Standard within the week.

The family is planning a Celebration of Life in Elginburg, north of Kingston, ON, on 7 January 2024.
The cover of Don's 1982 book Painting Planes, published by Canada's Wings.