SPRING STUDIO SALE!

Hello, hello!


I am having a SPRING STUDIO SALE now through the end of April!

******* 25%  on all paintings and drawings *******

Sizes as small as 5"x5" and as large as 8'x8' ... and tons of sizes in between.

You can see examples of a lot on this blog and/or my website at www.dawnsandersmyers.com 

BUT I also have a lot that is not featured on the site so it's best to come in for a visit and see all the goodies!

Please contact me to set up an appointment at my studio to view work.  My studio is located @
781 Wheeler St. NW, Studio No. 6, Atlanta, GA  30318

You can email me at dsmdesignstudio@aol.com or call @ 706.244.0513


Thanks and hope to see you soon!

Wendell Berry Poem

No, no, there is no going back.
Less and less you are
that possibility you were.
More and more you have become
those lives and deaths
that have belonged to you.
You have become a sort of grave
containing much that was
and is no more in time, beloved
then, now, and always.
And so you have become a sort of tree
standing over the grave.
Now more than ever you can be
generous toward each day
that comes, young, to disappear
forever, and yet remain
unaging in the mind.
Every day you have less reason
not to give yourself away.

~ Wendell Berry ~

It's a New Year!

So, welcome 2013.

I know.  I'm a little late in welcoming the new year on here as it is almost March.  Oops.  BUT, we 've had so much going on trying to ring in the new year and some items just get pushed aside for another day ... like, today!

Right before the new year, I had some GRAND plans for the whole holiday season, my tenth wedding anniversary, renovating my studio office, and making good changes leaps and bounds.  So exciting.

Well, you know what happens when you are busy making plans?  Life.  Life happens when you are busy making plans ... and it has its own course to follow.  So be it.

It is safe to say that I got super duper sick over the ENTIRE holidays, most of December and January.  All of that deserves a big fat YUCK and a double yuck.  Torturous and painful, but I'm oh so happy and grateful that little journey is over.  And that little journey ingrained even more gratitude and the love of life's simple pleasures into my little life philosophy.  And, so I'm going to keep calm and rock on.

With the set backs, we were extra late in our plans for the new year.  But have no fear, we have now completed our goals and I'm stoked!  We planned on moving my husband's office into my studio (having plenty room and all) ... so we needed to do some renovations to the space.  Before, it was pretty much a huge loft box with a separate bathroom.  We decided to add two main walls into the studio, separating the kitchen area we put in, the main office / meeting area, and the back painting studio.  We built the walls, then covered them in 1x6 tongue and groove boards hung horizontally.  They look fabulous.  The whole place is amazing and a huge blessing.  I'll post pics of the new space later!

We finished the renovations, the moving, the furniture layout and set up, the whole shebang and are now just starting to get into our new groove.    Slowly but surely things are falling into place and we are hoping for an amazing year in 2013, whatever may come!

In the meantime, I've got some interior design projects going on and I am getting back into the painting studio with some new art work as well as trying to meet new people and get some cool collaborations going on.  If I could, I would get think tanks going and a studio full of genius people and create, create, create.  I have lots of inklings and ideas up my sleeve and I know I will have to pour a lot of energy into making things happen.  So, here's to working hard and having fun this year!

Cheers!

CREATING ART, WHY THE ARTIST STATEMENT?

I always have something to say, something to say about what I've learned or something I've seen or the hundreds of epiphanies I feel I have daily.  I remember them, somewhere on the inside. Getting them to come out, live by them ... maybe is a different story.

So, I set up for myself, reminders.  Reminders of a feeling or an energy that I want to hold onto, that I want to remember.  But I'm not "thinking" about doing this, I just naturally do it and feel it when I create art work.  I want to say I capture the essence of the time, place, and/or energy into a canvas, or least part of it.

I don't know.  I've been told that I need to "figure out" and "make a statement" about why I make art, why I'm an artist for as long as I can remember.  I've done a decent job at trying to explain the complexities AND the simplicity of why I do what I do, but none of it seems to really explain why and maybe it's because I cannot.  Sometimes I do not even know why I do it.  I know that I was meant to do it, I know that I choose to embrace and do it, I know that I love it.  I know I am true to who I am when I do it, and that, is what is important.  That is what you should know.

Asking an artist about their artist statement is kind of like, "Why do you get out of bed in the morning?" kind of question.  Well, because that's what I do.  I have to "get out of bed" if I want to live my life.  It's that simple.

Now, "perfecting" what I do or what am I most interested in, is another topic.

I'm interested in what happens when you turn "nothing" into something.  Or when you take ideas, materials, and time, combine them all and create something new.  When you make choices for each step, thinking about it or not. That process is fascinating.  The input of life.  The output of life.  We all are doing these two things everyday.  All these inputs and outputs are building you up, molding you into the work of art that you are.  Work of art, meaning aesthetic form or artistic creation.

But, what is art?  Are you really that concerned with "what" something is?  Really, you should ask yourself ... do I value this?  Do I value what this person (or artist) does with this, what they are about, etc?  Can I appreciate this for what it is?  Can it add value to life and people around it?

Is art meant to add value to life?  What is it meant to do?  Why do we even do it or embrace it and want it in our life?  Everything you see around you was created by someone, and essentially, each is a "work of art".  Now, how much you appreciate it for "fine art" is up to you, then it's up to your neighbor and your other neighbor and so forth.

Why do some aesthetics sincerely please us?  What does it do for us?   Ever had a favorite color?  You know that feeling you get when you see your favorite color?  Ever wonder why it's your favorite, ever wonder why you get so excited or simply pleased when you see it.  That means that color is aesthetically pleasing to you and that you, most likely, put value on that color.

But why amongst all colors and things, do you put value on that one, your favorite color?  What feeling do you get when you see your favorite color?  Does something resonate with you?  Do you have good memories and that color is part of it?

Have you ever noticed when you are playing a board game, everyone wants to pick the "color" they want to be.  Some people get pretty excited about this too.  We have a choice to select a color for almost everything we buy, use, eat, etc.  Why is that important?  Why is that system there?  Why do we love COLOR so much and what does it do for us?

Hmm, ever thought about what it would be like if we lived in a black and white world?  Well, to me those are still colors, but I digress.  Or what if the world was all gray.  How would that change life for us?  I guess we'd have to rely on the shape or pattern of something to recognize it quickly.  I mean, we already do that but in conjunction with color, it stands out quicker to us, we process faster.

Why IS everything in color?  What is the significance of color?  How is color made?  What makes a color different from another color ... and how is that our eye can recognize all the colors?  Especially artists and the like, we seem to have a keener eye for understanding color.  Wonder why?

Well, I wonder why everyday.  That is why I am obsessed with colors, experimenting with combinations, layering them, and so on.  The color journey continues.

RELAX, DO THE WORK, BE INSPIRED.

Random Notes from the ole' journal, or from one of them ...


I'm trying to pull together notes to re-evaluate my artist statement and focus in on why I do what I do.

My mind balances differently in the morning.  I can notice a shift.  Can you?  It seems freer and more on point.  But, my rational mind takes over.  It seems so peaceful, more like a perspective on what to do, not what TO DO.  Logical brain takes over, I'm slipped back into rationality.  Putting everything back into a fixed context, perspective.

Dreaming and the waking mind is so relaxed, the ebb and flow do not follow the linear lines.  Process.

Create products that we love and want around us ...

Why do I create art?

I read this somewhere, just not sure of the source, oops. "The more successful, the more there is in terms of documentation, explanatory, analysis, understanding.  They'll want to know "why".  They'll know what they are doing and why they are doing it, where they are going."

Contemplating the course of my artistic experience is harder than it may seem.  There is a lot of dreaming and analizing and critiquing and so forth.  It really doesn't stop, ever.  The ideas, the visions, the hopes of what to create seem endless and there is not enough time in the day.

My goal is to reveal and clarify my purpose, direction, and desire to be an artist and to create art that impacts you and others.

Some brain drain ideas:

create an idea/concept.
natural/theraputic.
process of why living in life.
emotion/spiritual beings vs. logical/reason side.
tap into that more on a constant basis, our spiritual being.
to not "think" because overthinker.
making sense of a time period.
communicating ideas/messages.
affected by senses, emotions, music.
redirect my emotions/energy - changes my energy
attached to the piece, the idea of the piece
understanding
intentional in my process of how i like to work, then energy takes on that form/energy

philosophy/concept on how we approach the world or see the world - all works together.
layering all to create a whole.  my philosophy - all works together.
colors work together.  no symbols - redirect no - with certain connections, new train of thought because we already have attachements to or ideas about and i want to avoid that in my work.  we need to find new context, new perspective to change the form of the current energy and cycle ... if we are to continue to grow and evolve.

all of life is a belief, embracing beliefs, understanding how i think of things working @ the core - all is interwoven.
complicated - want to simplify the complex, back to the core.
being, core of the whole process.
experimental - ideas cohesive - changing?

i think this is a struggle within myself.
order vs. chaos, right vs. wrong
led by emotion, but since my emotion is so directly linked to my senses - endless cycle? the energy is constantly changing forms.

energy:  basis for action and decision and reaction.  to every action, there is a reaction.  energy is involved in all and constantly changing form.

are emotions and/or thoughts considered forms of energy?

in physics (analysis of nature and how it behaves) energy is an indirectly observed quantity (of anything?)
patterns. (cycles - energy changing form?)
reason
why/searching/explanation
energy

energy ---> physics ---> study of matter and its motion through space time, along with energy and force.

energy and mass cannot be created or destroyed.  just transforming the energy.
potential energy ---> stored.
vis viva = living force.  energy.
any form of energy may be transformed into another form.
although the total energy of a system does not change with time, its value may depend on the frame of reference (context?)
changing energy forms.

releasing old patterns encourages self-renewal ... in order to resume creative flow of energy.
emotional completion caused by discovering the hidden.
create connections.
developing deeper awareness.
trusting your own creativity.
missing underlying feelings.
mind controls me in most ways - it's nature is continual change and variety, which leaves the self insecure.
fresh inspiration is necessary to take things to the next level.
heighten understanding of foundations of life.
good time to contact and identify with your inner child.
need heightened discipline.
align desires and needs, need to adjust goals = satisfaction.
awareness that discipline is a critical component in current work, realistic thinking.
great will power - greatest traits.
inventive, but also will lead to isolation.
diplomatic vs. progressive.
emotional satisfaction.
basic and emotional values.

calm energy and hope for magical moments to come.
a routine is working for me beautifully, imagine that.


----> RELAX, DO THE WORK, BE INSPIRED.

MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL

photograph by sharon wheaton.

make it beautiful.

36" x 36" x 1.5" 

mixed media on canvas

photograph by sharon wheaton.

photograph by sharon wheaton.

FULL

photograph by sharon wheaton. 

full.

60" x 98" x 4.25"

mixed media on canvas 

photograph by sharon wheaton. 

photograph by dawn.