Dawn was raised in Texas and enjoyed spending time with her dogs, cat, rabbit and horse. When not outside with her pets, she would be inside drawing and painting animals.
In high school she was given a key to the art department and allowed to create her own self study courses. Her work hung in the school trophy case as well as the main office. She had several art scholarship offers but decided to pursue an education in finance. Though she worked for many years in the corporate world, she was continuously accepting painting commissions.
In 1996 she left the corporate environment to pursue her passion in art and be able to paint full time. Though she also paints in oils and watercolors, her favorite medium is pastel. Pastels allow her to achieve the look and feel of realism that bring her paintings to life. She loves the quality and detail pastels allow her to create as she endeavors to capture her subject's personality. Dawn especially enjoys painting the animal's eyes.
Dawn is represented in Southern California and is an internationaly collected artist. She is a member of the Pastel Society of the West Coast and is an artist registered with the AKC Museum of the Dog. Her recent accomplishments include being a finalist in the animal art category for the 2003 Artist's Magazine contest in whch there were over 13,000 entries. Her most exciting award was when her piece depicting an Irish Setter puppy in a silver trophy cup was named Grand Prize Winner for the American Kennel Club thus being the inaugural piece for the AKC's new line of commemorative collectible posters.
In her spare time, Dawn shows her dogs. She has put an obedience title on one, and has handled two of them to Champions with the younger of the two winning a
Best in Show, a
Best In Speciality Show and
Best of Opposite Sex at the 2003 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship--the premier show of dog shows with entries being by invitation only.
Dawn currently lives in Southern California with her husband, Rich, three Irish Setters, two cats, and a variety of other critters.
