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I have found an artist business consultant, Alexis Fedor, who is offering mentoring services, and she gives some free pointers before asking for money for the classes. (She administrates the Artists in Business group on facebook). Anyway, she suggests you clarify why you create art (to hone in on what is unique to you and find your ideal customers). So she has people ask 2 questions, and find how the answers are related and then state why you create art. She asks for your first memory of creating art and your most profound artistic experience.
here is mine:
According to my mother, my passion for art began at the age of 4 when I would stay up long past bedtime, coloring in my room; however, my first vivid memory of art is sitting in church every Sunday, drawing the same picture each week: Jesus standing by a drawn back curtain and holding a gigantic ruby in His outstretched hand. I can still envision that image clearly today, though I never kept a single copy.
Similarly, my most profound artistic experience, thus far, came when I was speaking from the pulpit in Church. I was citing Helaman 5:12 from the Book of Mormon : “And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build our foundation; that when the devil shall send forth His mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” As I spoke, an image flooded my mind in the form of a painting: a woman kneeling on a rock surrounded by a stormy sea. She was at the feet of the Savior. Tears streamed down her face as fiery darts assailed her from every direction, yet hope shone in her eyes. I remember thinking, “I have to paint that,” but I did not feel up to the task.
Although I still don’t feel ready, I am beginning to feel compelled to move forward regardless of whether if feel adequate or not. In a movie called Charlie, the main character shares a piece of her art with her grandma, who asks why she is painting fruit –which is just an exercise– and advises her to find something she feels so strongly about that she is afraid she won’t be able to do it and then paint that. I realize I have spent the last few years metaphorically “painting fruit”, honing my skills. –But what I feel so strongly about that I fear not being able to express –THAT is my real purpose! To bring people closer to Christ and the love and peace He offers them. It is time for my canvas to bring these beautiful truths to life!
Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery of items featuring her Art and Photography
Visit Dawna’s fan page and become a fan on facebook!
see Dawna’s art & photography with the poetry of Glennis Roper
http://PoemsProseAndArtistry.imagekind.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/poemsproseartistry*
http://www.redbubble.com/people/poemsproseart
Dawna’s art on society6
You can also find Dawna on flickr
I wrote the first draft of this poem when I was about 17 during my Junior year of High School. Although I wrote quite a bit of poetry during my high school years, I fell out of the habit during the busy years of college, getting married, and having lots of little kids running around. Over the past few years, I have been going through my old poetry notebook and revamping some of the better ones to share because I have really missed the poetry in my life. The original idea for this poem was great especially for an about 17-year-old, but it needed fleshing out and reworking. It has taken me over a year so far to rewrite it–mostly because by the time I have enough quiet time, it is late, I am tired, and am feeling like my brain is a bit fried.
In the way of acknowledgements and dedication, I would like to thank my High School sweetheart and love of my life, now and forever after, for being the reason I wanted to write poetry in the first place and for believing in me; my Freshman and Junior year English teacher, Mrs. Rogers, who taught me all the basics, gave me the assignment in the first place, and was always available before and after class as well as before and after school to help me work out rhythm and rhyme, and give me words of encouragement which meant more to me than she probably knew; my author friend Lia London for proofreading, some helpful constructive critique, and being a much-needed fresh set of eyes; and last but not least to God who got me through all my rough patches and gave me little bits of inspiration in the restless hours of the night as I was trying to get the final draft complete.
Paintbrush, by Dawna Morton
The brush in my hand—
paint slowly creating the picture…
Will it be what I want in the end?
My life, will it make,
a beautiful picture—
through the road that I take?
Colors mix together:
shades and hues of hopes and dreams…
Do they add or detract from the theme?
Feet pacing floor —having given my all—
Temptation to crumple, to scream,
throw my failures at the wall.
Reflective, introspective: perspective.
Stumble, learn, grow, submit.
Needing guidance Divine, my faults I admit.
Purport, import, and a refining effort,
—lights and effects: fine tuning ever—
Transform, renew. Start over…
as the brush guides the colors:
each choice that I make,
each decision, each path that I take…
Of infinite worth, this repeating process–
both guided–yet guiding–
this seemingly perpetual work in progress
Importuning, with brush in my hand,
pleading, to put my hand in His.
Inviting –creating anew, a new symbiosis
A joining, a becoming, as both Creator and creation—
—a true work of art— a new, more celestial me…
His continuous re-creation–
as this “brush” tries so hard to express,
with feeling, love, and desire: the will serene
…of the Master Painter.
Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery of items featuring her Art and Photography
Visit Dawna’s fan page and become a fan on facebook!
see Dawna’s art & photography with the poetry of Glennis Roper
http://PoemsProseAndArtistry.imagekind.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/poemsproseartistry*
http://www.redbubble.com/people/poemsproseart
You can also find Dawna on flickr
A few Christmases ago my family and I tried giving only homemade Christmas presents (with the exception of my husband who bought me a badly needed new camera). This went really well, and everyone had fun finding creative things to do for each other. It has become a bit of a tradition since then… In process of making a busy book for my two youngest girls (which I sadly have not finished yet) I drew this sketch of Jesus:

Awakening Divine Self Worth, sketch of Jesus Posters by dlmtleArt
Check out Poetry Posters online at zazzle
This Portrait sketch of Jesus shows him as if in mid smile. You can almost see him moving with sparkle and life. A look of happy kindness in one and sorrow and compassion in the other.. One arm is forward as if either in a teaching moment or to reach out to someone and lift them up…
Archival inks & papers, canvas prints,custom framing, Fine Art Prints on imagekind Awakening Divine Self Worth, sketch of Jesus, on RedBubble; cards , matted prints and more
Awakening Divine Self Worth, sketch of Jesus Posters on zazzle.com Awakening Divine Self Worth, sketch of Jesus at FineArtAmerica
I started out looking around at several other renditions of Jesus in my home and on the internet, that other artists have created, just to help me fix in my mind’s eye “this is what Jesus looks like.” Then I took a sheet of graph paper, since this was just going to be for my kids and only to transfer it to cloth later, and did a quick little sketch; however, I quickly regretted my choice of papers since the sketch turned out so well. Thankfully using my scanner and Paint.net made it pretty easy to remove the blue grid from the sketch. Making a really clean “coloring book” version of this sketch for the book, while still keeping the kind, but lively expression, was a bit problematic. It took some trial and error to figure out which lines could be removed or altered and which had to stay. I spent days making printouts, changing things, re-scanning, touching up on the computer and printing it out again before I had this final draft. Transferring the drawing to the fabric was accomplished with a permanent ink marker and a cut up printout of the picture that I traced like a puzzle onto the book page. (Yes I know it would have been less hassle to buy a transfer, but I was trying not to spend money).
The sketch turned out so well I printed out extra copies to send as Christmas cards and as presents for a select few people.
I got the idea about a year later to couple this with my poem, Awakening Divine Self Worth, which is about changing from seeing yourself the way the world sees you to seeing yourself as of infinite worth as you develop the divine within you:
One shaft of light
Illuminates my mind,
Streaming through one tiny crack
Of this fortress mine.
Amid the dank and darkened shadows,
Through cobwebs aged with time,
This light begins awakening
An inner me, Divine.
Basking in this warmth of light,
A struggle now takes play
Breaking free from cobwebs
And reaching for the day.
I hunger for this filling light
I strive to let it in
To fill my aching eyes with sight
I know I must begin.
A stretch, a step, a forward leap,
Each stone moved from its place
This light, His love, a soul’s embrace
Shining from His face
Cast away the darkness
Dispelling all my fears
drive away the shadows
Through dust as thick as years
Planting me a garden
In my heart to shine
Showing forth myself, my love
My inner me, Divine.
poetry by Dawna Morton, all right reserved –please do not copy, but feel free to share the link 😉
This is actually a rewrite of a poem I wrote back in high school. I haven’t written a new poem in many years, but I used to really enjoy it. I am hoping that if I spend enough time editing the best out of my old ones that writing poetry will come back to me. I also have this poem in conjunction with some of my forest photography, but I like it best with my sketch of Jesus.
Dawna’s art on society6
Search for another posters online at Zazzle
Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery of items featuring her Art and Photography
Visit Dawna’s fan page and become a fan on facebook!
see Dawna’s art & photography with the poetry of Glennis Roper
http://PoemsProseAndArtistry.imagekind.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/poemsproseartistry*
http://www.redbubble.com/people/poemsproseart
You can also find Dawna on flickr
since I got an email today from somebody on fineartamerica asking how I make my own textures, I thought maybe somebody else might be interested. Here is what I said back to them:
Thanks for you interest! I do not have a how to do textures tutorial, but I have several blog posts about images that have been made with my own textures. It is super easy and so fun. Anybody who has a macro lens and keeps their eyes open for interesting textures on things can do it. A tripod is helpful sometimes as well.
https://dlmtleart.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/snowflakes-and-a-bit-about-textures/
https://dlmtleart.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/garden-of-the-hesperides-digital-art/
https://dlmtleart.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/old-fashioned-roses-trojan-pond/
https://dlmtleart.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/red-lilies-hares-foot-trefoil-with-red-leaves/
https://dlmtleart.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/marriage-of-titania-salmon-berry-floral-duet/
There is also a tutorial on redbubble I found very helpful in getting started with doing your own textures:
http://blog.redbubble.com/2013/02/how-to-photograph-your-own-textures/
Sometimes after I take the initial texture shots I meld several of them together using layers to get what I am after and edit the color and lighting. These make great backgrounds for stationery also.
This is one I did using the crackled and glittery surface of my bathroom sink after I accidentally spilled gentian violet ALL OVER THE PLACE and then tried to clean it up. This incorporates overlaying several layers of sink texture plus edits to the lighting http://www.redbubble.com/people/dlmtleart/works/11574196-crackle-and-sparkle
…and here it is in a photo manipulation http://fineartamerica.com/featured/dragonfly-leap-of-faith-dawna-morton.html
here is another one where I used a texture from the bottom of my flaking Teflon wok. I use that wok texture a lot because it adds a splash of energy and motion. http://www.redbubble.com/people/dlmtleart/works/10469714-homework-rebellion-girl-reading-horse
Here is one where I used a close up of a bread pan somebody left outside in the bbq all winter. It was gross, but cleaned up and tinted blue etc it is lovely http://www.zazzle.com/cloudy_blue_sky_star_haiku_oval_print-228789702444197489?rf=238567130389714466
This one has as one of many layers an edited version of the infamous gentian violet spill aftermath. When I rinsed out the rags and set them on the edge of the bathtub and squeezed them out we had purple drops, drips, and splashes all over the place. It did eventually come off after a month or so and after using bleach. lol 😉 http://fineartamerica.com/featured/lily-pads-in-the-rain-at-vernonia-lake-dawna-morton.html
This should give you some ideas of the types of things you can keep an eye out for at your home and around town.
Images and content on this blog are the intellectual property of Dawna Morton
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Do not COPY, but do feel free to hit the share button 😉
Dawna’s Art at fineartamerica.com
Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery of items featuring her Art and Photography
See Dawna’s art on Amazon!
Be a fan of Dawna’s art and photography on facebook!
You can also find Dawna on flickr
see Dawna’s art & photography with the poetry of Glennis Roper
http://PoemsProseAndArtistry.imagekind.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/poemsproseartistry*
http://www.redbubble.com/people/poemsproseart
I originally started this painting so I would have an entry for the local art associations art contest this summer, however life with 6 kids isn’t always conducive to having enough time to paint–and the kids come first 😉 I think I managed to get it done within about a month of the deadline. I had a photo of some ‘snow in summer’ flowers that I had taken through my front window as a photographic experiment after I got my new camera, and I loved the feel of the one this painting is based on –although the photo itself turned out a little blurry. I had a couple of small canvas boards a friend gave me for Christmas, and decided to use those to experiment with different media and effects for the background. Click here to see it as a work in progress, and to see some of the other background ideas I played with…
In order to quickly see how which background type looked best with the flowers, I printed out a copy of my reference photo and just cut them out of it so I could lay them over each of the canvases in turn. This worked extraordinarily well since the canvases weren’t much bigger than my printout. I ended up going with this purple watercolor because it more closely mimicked the feel I was looking for. with the deadline looming I decided to trace the paper cut out onto the canvas to save time. Hopefully nobody feels like that was cheating. I ten drew in the details and made some alterations–such as changing which direction the main blossom was facing. I also moved the flowers on this side of the window and suggested a curtain with light coming through it instead of a screen and the edge of the windowsill with the flowers outside. Then I added a butterfly to balance everything out and add some additions interest.
Everything was coming along nicely until the three-year-old got a hold of it. One of those moments where the house was suspiciously quiet for entirely too long prompted me to figure out what she was up to. She had managed to get herself into the art room and nabbed the paints and was happily painting away in a bold red. Thankfully She had laid a few pieces of paper across the top first–which caught the worst of it; however, there was still the problem of bright red splotches on a very simple all purple palette.
Luckily the red lifted off of the gessoed surface beautifully, and I did not have to go with plan b — adding a bunch of red flowers to the right hand corner.
As I was working on the composition and painting a symbolic meaning to everything came into play. The three sections of curtain across the window is a sort of representation of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost–united yet separate and distinct at the same time as they are one. Then there is the light coming through the curtain –which represents inspiration, revelation and those moments when we feel that heaven is near. Truly the veil is thin sometimes. This is also a reference to the temple and going there for additional revelation, inspiration, peace and to be spiritual uplifted. The butterfly is a representation of being visited by the Holy Ghost, which was inspired by an article I read to my children many years ago in the Friend magazine about how being reverent is like sitting quiet and still so you can catch a butterfly, or feel the Holy Ghost. The flowers are a representation of each of us, as we grow and blossom in readiness to hear, inspiration is more frequent and clear, and easier to understand– and in turn spiritual light nourishes us so we can grow and blossom. And of course: God is the source of all light (revelation inspiration, and so on) and we are completely dependent on them. The overall feel and tranquility in this painting is symbolic of how we feel when we commune with God and the peace and comfort He sends us through the Holy Ghost.
You can find “Butterfly at the Veil” for sale as a print at FineArtAmerica, imagekind, Redbubble, zazzle , and Amazon. So far the original is not for sale. The family loves it too much 😉
Images and content on this blog are the intellectual property of Dawna Morton (unless otherwise stated).
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Do not COPY, but feel free to hit the share button 😉
Dawna’s Art at fineartamerica.com
Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery of items featuring her Art and Photography
See Dawna’s art on Amazon!
Be a fan of Dawna’s art and photography on facebook!
see Dawna’s art & photography with the poetry of Glennis Roper
http://PoemsProseAndArtistry.imagekind.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/poemsproseartistry*
http://www.redbubble.com/people/poemsproseart
Dawna’s art on society6
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Come listen to living prophets and apostles today.
Last spring I got to go on one of the coolest field trips ever with my son. He was enrolled in an online school, Oregon Connections Academy, at the time. We went on an underground tour of battery Mishler at old Fort Stevens. It was like taking a step backward in time right into history. Even though Battery Mishler was burned in a fire started by some vagrants several decades ago, there were still lots of cool things to see. My son had a blast shining his flashlight in every nook and cranny, and I had fun trying out the low light setting on my camera while we listened to our guide explain all the Civil War, World War I, and World War II history involved in what we were seeing. It was really neat, and I would highly advise going if you ever get the chance. Although it is not generally open to the public (for safety reasons they don’t leave it unlocked), You can call in advance and set up a special appointment with a tour guide if you are interested. I would recommend wearing a hat since it is drippy in there. It is also probably good to know that there are stairs, so it isn’t exactly stroller friendly. (There was a student in a wheelchair, and they were able to carry him up and then carry up the chair, so it isn’t impossible–just not easy. There were two sets of stairs if I recall correctly.)
The photographs really turned out cool and unique looking. The light was really tricky with everyone waving flashlights around, and I didn’t have much time to stop for photos at any one location –since I didn’t want to get lost alone in the dark. A tripod would have been nice to have since the slower shutter speed accentuated any movement at all, but I would not have had time to set it up and use it each time we stopped –our guide kept a pretty good pace. A lot of time even though the camera was still, people and their flashlights and glow sticks were moving, causing a kind of time-lapse photography effect with the longer exposure time on the low light/night photography setting. It also caused the light to have a kind of golden glow to it which I like. In a lot of the pictures my son was shining the light at things so we could actually see what I was photographing. It was really dark in there. Even though there are some overhead lights, they are few and far between, and not very bright. Using the flashlight In conjunction with the low light setting really caused some dramatic lighting effects (which I enhanced later with some editing of course).
Because of time constraints I’m not going to be able post all of the photos here, but you can peruse them in my galleries at Redbubble and Imagekind (and coming soon on Zazzle and Fineartamerica). There were also some photos I took of the other batteries and scenery around Fort Stevens before it started pouring down rain.
Next we made a stop at the Astoria column after a break for lunch. I actually let my son borrow my camera for once (with strict instructions not to break it, drop it, etc etc) and let him do the climb by himself with the other students and teachers since I had a wee one asleep in the car by then. He took some great photos–and I’m not saying that just cause I’m his mom. I had some fun editing them, with his permission. He was pretty proud that I liked them enough to post them for sale. They can also be viewed at Redbubble and Imagekind, and will be on Zazzle and Fineartamerica sometime soon.
Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery of items featuring her Art and Photography
Visit Dawna’s fan page and become a fan on facebook!
see Dawna’s art & photography with the poetry of Glennis Roper
http://PoemsProseAndArtistry.imagekind.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/poemsproseartistry*
http://www.redbubble.com/people/poemsproseart
You can also find Dawna on flickr