Dawn Thrasher
BEd, AFA, ASA
Biography
Dawn grew up in Saskatchewan in the open spaces of the Canadian prairie. She received a Bachelor or Education from the University of Saskatchewan in 1971, with majors in food science, textiles and design. She worked as an educator for 18 years, developing programs and teaching for private companies and school boards. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Calgary in1990 majoring in painting and drawing.
Dawn has pursued a painting practice and has exhibited for over 25 years. A perpetual student, she continues to explore new techniques and materials through mentoring and research. Dawn’s early inspiration to find her own voice as a painter was enriched through programs like the Emma Lake Artist’s workshop in Saskatchewan, the CSPWC Jasper Symposium in Alberta, and Arts by the Lake at the Georgian College of Art in Ontario. Travel has enabled her to explore art in many cultures. These experiences reinforced her appreciation of the power of art to convey a sense of cultural practices and political issues reflecting time and place in history.
Painting is central to her art making practice but she has worked in textiles, fused glass, collage, ceramics and photography. It has become clear to Dawn there is no obvious career path for an artist. They must chart a course that feeds their creative journey and challenges their imagination. This continues to be her primary objective. For further information please visit Dawn’s website.
Artist Statement
Painting is like language. It enables me to give visual expression to my ideas and experiences. Landscape has been my muse, providing inspiration to explore the changing nature of things. These works attempt to reflect the ecological essence and invisible energy of a subject at a specific moment in time.
My current direction is to further my exploration of abstraction. While landscapes live in my mind before they appear on canvas, my abstracts are fed by the desire to work more intuitively, allowing an in-depth maniputlaton of the mediums used to create the image. Something is lost and something born in transforming ideas to canvas. This process feeds my creative efforts. Finding the balance between techniquie and inspiration is a constant challenge. Allowing the painting to become itself, not the symbol of something else, is the objective. Knowing when to put the brushes down and leave a painting a good place with a resonance of its own is the key.
Thrasher_Dawn_First-Snow
© Dawn Thrasher First Snow
Thrasher_Dawn_Juxtaposition
© Dawn Thrasher Juxtaposition