Meet Dawn Murray and Explore With Her the Joy in Creating
The most creative joy I’m given comes from the people around me sharing and learning off each other.
Enjoying the landscape and the way we use and see things is always interesting and opens up new ways of thinking.
Art, I feel, is about always growing, learning and experimenting.
Tasmania and Tasmanian’s do this so well, they are very giving people and always ready to learn as well.
Naturally Combining Nature, Science and Art
I grew up in a conservation household with a realistic expectation of how farming, forestry, land/sea/river management all work together.
My parents took us into to the hills regularly and in all seasons to appreciate nature. It was part of my early schooling that I had to create scrapbooks to bring back to school, this got me pressing, printing and drawing the world around me.
The Art and Science Connection
Having parents that worked in science based employment but also are prolific artists in their side hustle gave me a different view; scientific and arty.
Being diagnosed with MS appreciate both sides of the coin and love every experience that presented itself.
A Path to a Visual Arts Education
For the last 5 years I have focused more and more on my arts practice, completing a Diploma in Visual Arts mid 2023.
Now I can return to part time Radiography and part time Artist, with the hope that I can study another Creative Course in 2024.
Inspired by Art Old and New
Historic Artists inspire me as well as Contemporary Artists.
Old and new techniques are interesting as new mediums are designed to create products.
I am constantly looking at the world around me and thinking how can I best put that down on paper?
What emotion and feeling do I want to impart?
Experimentation is a huge part of my work.
No one may ever see that part but it is an important part of my art process to see what textures, colours, markings I can achieve.
The Joy of Various Art Mediums
I work in multiple mediums. One medium is Resin, which I marry with Tasmanian Timber to create coffee tables and charcuterie boards, each one unique!
This is a fun, fast and semi abstract way of working. I started working this way when my hands and eyes started changing.
A Love for Pastel Art
I also work with soft pastel learning from two local artists, two differing styles.
I love the pure pigment that I can apply.
I can work fast or slow with this medium.
From Clay to Oils to Watercolour to Pencils Art
I have been creating ceramic pieces over the last 4 years and have grown to love the feel of clay, especially hand building to keep my hands strong to hold pencils and brushes as I am currently learning to work with oils.
This has been enlightening and I’m surprised about how much fun I’m having with them. Opposite to that I also work in watercolour and coloured pencil.
Art Informed by Tasmania
Being an import into Tasmania has influenced my Art to a great extent. I see the difference in colour and form, also how the landscape is used.
This all translates across to art I create.
I have become fascinated by the soil here in Tasmania, and how it changes during the seasons.
I’m also fond of birds and insects in Tasmania. I have a small bug collection as well as a seed pod collection, much to the disgust of the husband who insists its rubbish.
Staying Motivated and Inspired with Art
At times its really hard to stay motivated and inspired to create my own art.
When I’m not feeling like creating my own art I try to keep motivation by supporting other artists often by buying a online class or yearly membership to their Patreon site.
Blocking Out Creative Time is Crucial
As I’m working 9-5 job now this has become very important to me, I feel like I’m missing out with my Artist Community so I block out one weekend a month for a Pastel Class in my local area, and also join an online Artist when she posts a lesson.
Creating a Balance
Balancing and work life and art life has become more difficult as my work life tends to take over, being in a health profession at the moment is hard work as we want to help but there is a lot of red tape and learning in your own time to do.
Taking time for my arts practice takes will power, having things easily to hand and not having to search for paper or product is hard for me (not being the tidy artist at all) but essential.
Setting aside time, blocking it out in your diary, is an aspect I’ve found helpful, then I don’t book something over it and miss out.
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The Power of Having Art Goals
My short term art goals are to experiment more with watercolour illustration, and seeing the details.
At the other end of my art experimentation this year is charcoal and water.
My long term goal is to be working in the Creative Arts combined with Health outcomes, I feel this I can take travelling within Australia in the future and still involve myself within the community.
A Passionate Desire for Art School
I was discouraged from following an art career when I was in my teenage years, although both my parents are quiet artists I was not allowed to go to Art School even though that is what I desperately wanted.
Now my parents are retired and have ‘come round’ in the last 5 years to being some what supportive in what I do.
I think always doing something arty in the background has set me up to do what I really wanted to do when I was young, and perhaps it means more to be able to do it now when I had to quietly fight for it.
About the Artist
Originally from New Zealand’s wild south west coast, I have worked as a Radiographer for over 20 years dabbling in various art workshops in my spare time.
Recently I completed a Certificate 3 and a Diploma in Visual Art, with aspirations to study again.
I work in various mediums.
I consider myself Impressionist that is also driven by emotion and atmosphere. I strongly believe in sharing knowledge and techniques with others to provide a positive result.
Follow Dawn on Facebook and Instagram. Visit her website, Tasmania South Light for her beautiful designs and work.
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Belinda is doing a great job creating a professional looking artist hub online. Check out the profile I posted recently to see how well she does them. To all my artist friends let’s help make this THE go to place to discover local artists.
You won’t regret joining Art Trails Tasmania . It’s a welcoming community for creatives at any career stage.Becoming an Art Trails Tasmania member wasn’t a hard decision for me to make as it’s such a wealth of knowledge and support.Being member provides a quality way to showcase your creative endeavours and it’s quickly growing in reach.
We operate a home based picture framing business and recently joined Art Trails Tasmania as a means to giving us exposure to the wider artist community. We have almost immediately seen increase in activity thru our online sites, which I am certain will lead to more opportunities to grow our business.
Artist Profile Stories
I want there to be more arts and crafts in our world, in our communities and in our own lives. Hopefully you’ve found this blog post inspiring and interesting.
So I’m creating, with your help, Art Trails Tasmania, allowing all of us who feel this love to create more of it.
And the Art Trails Tasmania blog is a key part of making this happen, telling the stories of members. It’s about what they have happening with workshops and classes, exhibitions, open studio trails, where to find their outlets, markets, fairs and festivals so you can shop their creations as well as their art and craft retreats.
Also being shared are the supporters of our artists, the galleries, shops, cafes, art societies and groups, places to stay and artist in residencies.
