[3] While visiting his sister in California he studied at the Los Angeles School of Illustration and Painting and the Mark Hopkins Art Institute; back in the Netherlands in 1925, he attended the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam before completing his studies at the Académie Julian in Paris.
[3] After returning to California in 1928 Dolema was made the chief matte painter at Paramount Studios, and was chief artist in the special effects department until 1968.
[3] Creating landscapes for most of the movies produced by Paramount for over thirty years, he received several Academy Awards for his work.
[3] Domela was part of the production team who received an Academy Honorary Award at the 11th Academy Awards for their efforts on the Paramount film Spawn of the North.
[4] Domela exhibited his own landscape paintings of subjects such as the Monterey Peninsula, the California Sierras, the Alps, and Monhegan Island, at venues including the Los Angeles County Museum.