Don Butto
Early Education
I have always lived at the intersection of art and technology. My formal training began in fine art at Vincennes University, then shifted to computer science at Judson University. While a student I supported myself through private art commissions and daily work in one of Chicago's finest galleries and custom framing ateliers. Those years handling masterworks instilled the same reverence for uncompromising quality that still guides every portrait I create.
United States Veteran
I served seven years in the U.S. Air Force with 9th Intelligence, including multiple deployments to Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. In recognition of that shared bond, I reserve a limited number of legacy portrait commissions each year for fellow veterans and their families.
Technology Consultant
After the military I settled in the Research Triangle, building systems for Fortune 500 clients including NCR, GTE, General Dynamics, Becton Dickinson, and GlaxoSmithKline. In 1999 I founded CO2 Consulting Group and delivered some of the region's earliest large-scale web applications. That discipline - solving complex problems under pressure - is the same mindset I bring to every portrait session today.
Photography
For years I painted and designed, waiting for cameras to catch up to the control I needed. When digital finally arrived at true artistic fidelity, I made the switch - but never abandoned the painter's eye. Every portrait is now a deliberate collaboration: considered long before the shutter, refined with museum-level care afterward, and printed to last centuries. This is the only kind of work I accept, and the only kind I sign my name to.