I have loved to paint since I was a child doing crafts with my grandma. Handicraft creativity was a way of life in my family, from woodworking to quilting and sewing, from card-making to writing, from crocheting and knitting to even more. I also grew up with a love for fairytale and fantasy stories, checking out as many books from my local library as I was allowed, and would sometimes get in trouble for reading instead of doing chores. Adventures and other worlds awaited in the pages of those library books, which stimulated my imagination and often times had me boldly going into scary places in the neighborhood.
As all children do, with the exception of Peter Pan, I grew up and went out into the world. As a young adult I attended college several times and worked many types of jobs. I completed an Associate’s Degree in Business Management and Travel, and then adventure became an official part of my life when I became a travel agent.
I could never have known how my own escapades would increase when I married a United States Airman and began moving from place to place-even overseas to Europe. It was such a blessing to be in a land of age-old art, where children crawl on 2000-year-old sculptures, famous churches crumble and burn, and hundreds-years-old museums still change out their visual treasures on a regular basis. Coming from a small farming community, I have felt unbelievably blessed to see so much more than my vivid imagination could ever have envisioned. My greatest adventure has been to raise a child throughout those crazy circumstances! Through it all, God has been by my side protecting and inspiring me.
I eventually went back to college and finished my Bachelor of Arts degree. I also took a children’s literature course and began writing and illustrating children’s books. One of my dreams came true when my adventure story, “Gnomeling,” became a library book! I continue to create regularly, trying to work in writing, designing, drawing, and painting every day. My books are of a children’s or Christian flavor mostly and my art is highly focused in acrylics, graphite, watercolors, and inks. Being born into a rich heritage of creative expression as well as having an Autistic brain, I experiment freely without fear and have learned to embrace my own diversity.
I hold degrees/diplomas in Humanities, English Literature, Business Management, Travel, and Children’s Literature and have been ordained through Christian Global Outreach Ministries. I have traveled the U.S. and Europe supporting the arts and searching out artistic treasures, and hope to share peace, joy, humor, and encouragement with those who engage with my creations, just as I have discovered on my own creative journey while meeting so many diverse people and artisans.
My paintings have been exhibited at:
- Dayton Society of Artists, Dayton, OH
- Village Artisans Co-op, Yellow Springs, OH
- The Gallery at Lofino Plaza, Beavercreek, OH
- Orphanage Gallery, Dayton, OH
- Coterel Gallery, Xenia, OH
- Pearl Galleria, Destin, FL
- Pearl Galleria, Foley, AL
- HH Arts Gallery, Fort Walton Beach, FL
- Gathering of Artists, Black Mountain, NC
- Painted Tree Boutiques, Lincoln, NE
- In a variety of libraries, churches, newsletters, social media groups and their cover images, school events, author events, and other art/craft/wine markets and shows
My books have been available in myriad locations and are now available on Amazon. I have curated and supplemented my university education with art and writing classes through Milan Art Institute, Awesome Art School with Karen Campbell, Josie Lewis, Jenna Rainey, Kirsty Partridge, James Browne, Rome Community Center in Rome, NY, Decoy Art Studio in Beavercreek, OH, SLO Nightwriters of San Luis Obispo, CA, several community groups and libraries, and other miscellaneous classes, workshops, conferences, and interviews.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“I live, write, and paint in the tension between expectation, whether real or imagined, trying to find what is the right thing to do or to be, yet not wanting to care what that right thing is, as well as expressing femininity in all its woes and joys, and learning about how my autistic brain sees and interprets the world differently than others.” – Dawn Marie Paul
I am always trying to grow in skill, knowledge, and wisdom. I currently live in Lincoln, Nebraska with my husband and two dogs, and I’ve been told I see the world through rose-colored glasses, but I think I sometimes see it with a luminescent glow.
Dawn Marie Paul 