Artist Spotlight: Dawn Schreiner

It's no secret that I've been a fan of artist Dawn Schreiner for awhile now. Her work is always bright, energetic and a bit tongue-in-cheek. Her subject matter ranges from portraits of movie stars and religious figures, to children's illustrations and now even sci-fi influenced acrylic paintings.

For one of her newest series involving Star Wars circus-themed imagery, she combines her quirky sense of humor with a dash of nerdiness, and a whole lot of fun.

I wanted to learn a little more about her as an artist and what inspires her work, and Dawn was lovely enough to answer some of my questions through email.

Q:  Explain what you do in 100 words or less.

A: I am a visual artist and commercial illustrator. In the big wide world those things seem very different, but in my little world they overlap.I work with acrylics, watercolor, pen and ink and pencils. I paint on recycled materials, when possible. Mainly cereal boxes and the like.For watercolors I use left over art paper from my kids art work.

Q: How long have you been doing what you do?

A: I've been drawing all my life. I started painting, seriously, in 2008. In 2009 I decided to dedicate myself to a painting a day, which I'm proud to report, I have done for the majority of the time. I finally gave up weekends, as I wanted a little time to focus only on my family and friends.

Q: What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

A: Once I was a very inept Girl Friday. Otherwise, I've always worked under the art umbrella. Photography assistant, graphic designer, sculptor, sketch artist and once I did portraits of people as their favorite monster or scary character, for a haunted house on Church Street in Orlando.

Q: What made you choose to pursue a career in art?

A: It presented itself as my only option. The older I get, it seems that art chose me, not the opposite. There have been deep moments of inner turmoil, especially during times experiencing the typical "starving artist" problems.

Q: Did you have any formal training?

A: I went to two universities, to get "well rounded," taking graphic design on as my major discipline. My parents are conservative, and felt it was of vital importance that I have a skill in something other than just painting/drawing. I graduated with a BA in Graphic Design from the University of North Florida. My first two years of study were at Northern Kentucky University, where I had the opportunity to draw wild buffalo in a field in an art class, among other things.

Q: Who or what has been the biggest influence on what you paint?

A: The media, popular culture, followed closely by friends and family. I often ask people to make suggestions on what they'd like to see doodled. That has proved to be an endless stream of inspiration.

Q: Can you recall a real-life situation that inspired you?

A: I have a story I am working on based on experience with a wood duck who was... stuck. It's my goal to make the story into a book. It's one of those "you can't make this stuff up" experiences.

Q: Do you have set hours that you paint each day or only when you are inspired to work?

A: On a good day, I take my son to school in the early morning, work out,then come home, clean up and get to work by 9. Then work until it's time to get my son, around 2:30. Mostly, I work when I can, there always seems to be something that throws a wrench in the day. I often work late into the night, and yes, (still) some weekends.

Q: What style of art do you most identify with?

A: Whimsical and folk art.

Q: Out of all the pieces you have painted, do you have personal favorite?

A: That's a tough question. I have favorites, just because those pieces turned out just like the image I had in my mind. I like my Harry Potter piece, because I think I captured the spirit I was hoping for.There are several pieces that I sold, that I had a really hard time parting with. Seems ridiculous, but it's true. Edgar Allan Poe,Charlie Chaplin and Annie Lennox pieces come to mind.

Q: What's the best piece of advice you've been given?
A: Don't ever give up, be kind and work, work, work.

Q: Anything else you'd like to say?
A: "Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it's just not that good. It's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.We know our work doesn't have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I've ever met. It's gonna take awhile.It's normal to take awhile. You've just gotta fight your way through."-- Ira Glass

(While I loved her Star Wars themed pieces, it was the mammoth painting above that had my heart skipping a beat at the Orlando Fok Festival Feb. 11th, and I'm happy to say it has joined my collection of original artwork)