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| Almost Spring on Lee Point | Aquilo ar Rest | Asylum Bldg 28 |
| watercolor on canvas | 12 x 9 | watercolor | 22 x 16 | watercolor on canvas | 14 x 11 |
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| Backyard Paradise | Beachdance | Conner en Plein Air |
| watercolor | 15 x 16 | pastel | 14 x 11 | watercolor | 14 x 11 |
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| Itchy (1984 - 2009) | Snowy Sunrise on Lee Point | Thinking of the Narrows |
| pastel | 11 x 14 | pastel | 8 x 6 | watercolor | 11 x 15 |
Artist Statement | Dawn Russell lives in Suttons Bay, Michigan, with husband James, and four children (Sara, 21 yrs, Ryann, 20, Kelsey, 19 and Connor, 11). She and her family enjoy sailing, martial arts, music, and too many other things!
Dawn studied Fine Art for a short time at the UW-Eau Claire, before making a “practical” shift in focus to Business Information Sytems, and continuing studies in Entrepreneuership at DePaul in Chicago. After a brief (25-yr!) tangent working in IS, “life events” led Dawn to shift back to her passion for visual art, now as a profession. She works primarily in watercolor and pastel, painting regularly with a “life drawing” group in Suttons Bay, and other area studio and “plein air” groups in the area.
Dawn paints in a wide array of subject matter and styles – landscape, abstracts, nautical themes, florals, animals, life – and has exhibited in assorted venues. In 2010 she established Russell Arts and Technology ( www.russellartsntech.com ) through which she promotes her work as an “Artist”, and “IT Artisan”, offering limited IT services such as fine art printing (giclée), graphic design, and general IT consulting, in addition to “doing art” – painting and teaching.
Most recently, Dawn opened a new “cooperative-style” art gallery in leelanau county, with partners Susan Fehrenbach and Jane Ditri. “Gallery 22, llc” ( www.gal22.com ), having opened in April of 2011, exhibits the work of over 30 area artists and artisans, including that of the three owners.
Psalm 37:4 is a source of encouragement and the foundation for Dawn's “work” as an artist. And as for that profession, "Working as an artist, in beautiful, Leelanau County ... it doesn't get much better than this! “
