Why do you do it?!?

Why do we do what we do? This is a question that keeps coming up in the classes I have been at C4 (business classes for artists). I am amazed by how hard this question is to answer.

Easy answers:

I can.  I love it.  I'm curious.  Etc....

Why is this such a hard thing to answer? I have been making art most of my life. I have a degree in painting. I have been teaching painting classes for 14 years. But why do I do this? Well... I love making 3 dimensional space on a 2 dimensional plane, moving color back in forth within that 2D space. I love problem solving, and I just like to walk around and look and think about how so many things are possible on one little planet.

 I have been assigned to make my mission statement  as part of my class work, and after a lot of struggle, I think I have it.

Mission: Create expressive paintings that elevate the ordinary and encourage the viewer to appreciate the beauty of the day to day.

When it comes down to it, I always feel so lucky. I love my work and I can always learn and improve. I look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings. 

Paint on my friends,

Dawn

Dogwoods are in bloom in Atlanta

After painting for months, I am so excited the

Dogwood Festiva

l is almost here! I have all new

paintings and I can wait to see what people think.

Artist Market hours

Friday 12 - 7

Saturday 10 - 7

Sunday 10 - 7

I'll be in booth 120 close to the 14th street entrance off Piedmont.

There are so many great things to do at the

Dogwood Festival

. Music last until 11PM Friday and Saturday. There will be cooking and painting demos. Come out and enjoy the show.

It's going to be a beautiful weekend!!

Check out the website for a list of all the events.

Hope to see you there!

Dawn

Happy painting!                           

My art now available to purchase online click

here

to go to my secure market.

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Northern Adventures!

A few highlights from my trip. Make sure to check out the cyclist with a dog stand. 

Every August I flee the Atlanta heat and head up north for weeks of painting and shows.

I start the month off in Provincetown, MA, with my dear friend Rosemarie. We met in a workshop several years back and now have a standing painting date for the week in P'town.  Even with the overcast days this year, the light and ocean were just wonderful. I look forward to this week all year!

After my show in CT and a few days at Rosemarie's house I head over to Pennsylvania for a show and a visit with one of my favorite couples, Art and Margaret Thorn.  They are generous enough to put me up for a few days during the show. It's just so much fun hanging out and hearing about how their year has been.

Fortunately the shows were good this year. I sold several big paintings and even won an award this year at Gretna. While that is always great, what makes this trip so special is the time I get to spend with friends.

Until next year!!

Dawn

Happy painting!                             

Classes start back soon.

Sept 23  

Tues Painting Studio 6:30 - 9:30 4 or 8 weeks

Sept 27

Palette Knife Workshop: Fall Trees

Sept 28  

Color Confidence 1 Painting Workshop

Oct 1 

W

ed Painting Studio 6:30 - 9:30 - 6 Weeks

Oct 10 - 12

Weekend Plein air workshop - Parker Ranch in Clayton GA * Fall Trees Should be Beautiful*

Nov 1

Palette Knife Workshop : Landscape

Nov 8

Color Confidence 2 Painting Workshop

See more paintings at 

www.dawnart.com

My art now available to purchase online click 

here

 to go to my secure market.

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Dawnart Classes

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A Few of my favorites from the 30 Day Painting Challenge


This has really pushed me in the studio. I enjoy the challenge, but happy to slow down and explore ideas that take more time than a day. I really think this is a great way to improve your paintings.

Happy painting!                           


March 18 Tues Painting Studio
May 3 Color Confidence 1 10 - 3:00
May 10 Palette Knife workshop; Reflections on water

My art now available to purchase online click here to go to my secure market.





Painting Day 28!

"Away From it All" 30x48 oil on canvas
WooHoo, finished a big one. That always makes for a happy day in the studio.

In other news, this pretty much sums up Atlanta the day after our big storm.

Until tomorrow!


Happy painting!                           







Painting Day 27

5x7 Vintage Atlanta WGST 920"  oil on panel, palette knife painting.
Glad to wrap up my painting of the day. Now that I am finished, I can go inside and warm my toes!!! What a day. The snow wasn't supposed to hit Atlanta, but hit it  did! I was so worried about Rob out on the roads, but he made home safely, even though he had to walk the last couple of miles.YAY!  Below photos of the studio.
This is the first time the art van has seen snow!
Until tomorrow!

Happy painting!                           










My art now available to purchase online click here to go to my secure market.

Painting Day 19

"Anyway the Wind Blows" 12x12 oil on canvas.
After a fantastic weekend(Teaching a color theory workshop, hanging out with out of town friends, a great yoga class at Atlanta Hot Yoga) I was ready to hit the studio to paint my 19th paint this month. Isn't that nuts? I can't believe it's been 19 days. Only 11 more paintings and I will have finished my 30 painting in 30 days challenge. A big thank you to Leslie Saeta for putting this all together for us. If you haven't heard about Leslie you should check out her website. She is a great artist, teacher, and advocate for artists. Every week she host a blog radio show, Artist Helping Artist, that is just full of great tips. Check it out!
Happy painting!                             
Classes start back soon.
Jan 14  Tues Painting Studio 6:30 - 9:30 *** FULL***
Feb 22  Paint with Color Confidence 2 10 - 3:00
Mar 8    Palette Knife Workshop: Vibrant Skys 10 - 3:00










Painting Day 16

"Sunset Sail" 12 x 16 oil on canvas, palette knife painting.

Click here to Purchase

After spending all day woking on the computer, it was a relief to get out to the studio and paint.
An important part of my job is photographing my work and then editing the photos to get them ready to jury into shows, print ads, website, etc... Today was the day to make a dent in that task. After a couple failed attempts, decided to hire someone to edit my booth shot.  That's always a tough one, but so important for getting into outdoor shows. 

For any of you looking to apply to out door art shows you should check out Larry Berman, he does a great job and his site has a lot of great tips on how to take your own photo.


I still have room in my Color Confidence Workshop this weekend. This is a great class to help you control you color mixing.
Until tomorrow,

Dawn

Happy Fall - time to settle into the studio!



                                        
Happy Fall! 
I have had a fantastic summer. Enjoyed a lot of traveling, painted in really cool places and  got to hang out with  great friends. Now, with just a few art shows left in the year, I am looking forward to settling into the studio and creating new work for 2014.  

I have been thinking a lot about color lately and my new painting ( I hope ) will reflect this. It all started with  a color confidence workshop I taught over the summer.  I have been trying to really simplify color theory for my students and put it in easy to understand language. How do make it practical for how people really paint? I think this turned out to be one of the best classes I have taught about color, so I am now in the process of creating a second level, Color Confidence 11.  I'm really excited about this class, but haven't gotten it boiled down to the nuts and bolts just yet.

 I really look forward to the time in the studio over the winter. the pressure of sales is off  and I can focus on creating and understanding color.

Happy fall ya'll!
Dawn













Commission Finished Just in Time

 Just in the nick of time. This commission is for an  anniversary and I had to deliver it today to make the deadline. Good thing I finished last night! I am happy to say the client loved the painting - see below...

The finished painting 20"x20" Tierra. The happy couple had their engagement party here. What a thoughtful gift. I hope she will love it!
The photo I worked from
People are often amazed at how I can get a painting you may want to look at out of such bad photos! I just image what the scene would look like at a time with interesting light and try to capture that moment. For this one, I was thinking about what it would be like to walk up to this cozy place just as the sun was setting. I am with good friends and were are going to have a great evening.
I also try to add color and texture to the surface of the building to give the viewer something interesting to look at. ( when I've finished my great dinner )
That is the fun of these paintings. 

Now on to Indianapolis for another art show. Hope it goes as well as last weekend.

Cheers,

Dawn

Great Sales in Tupelo Miss

What a great weekend in Tupelo, Miss. Not only did I get to visit with Elvis, I sold 2 great pieces.

48"x48" Sunday Afternoon at Grandma's.  This is actually my wagon posing for me in the front yard



30" x 40"  Siesta Time. This painting was from Rob and my trip to Italy. Very fond memories with this one

Elvis's birth place. This is a really neat park, so if you find yourself in the area, check it out.

Inside the house

Well that's all for now.

Cheers!
Dawn