Below — pages from my 2023 sketchbook. I began this on a road trip last June to the Oregon coast. In years previous when we made that trip (the last being in 2017) I didn’t draw much, if at all. Rather, I was still on [READ: addicted to] social media, so I spent more...
musings from the studio and beyond ~
dawn chandler’s reflections on art and life. . . .
New Mexico art
eagle nest gold
It's become a cherished late August ritual for me: Driving the Enchanted Circle through Northern New Mexico.I started the tradition two years ago…. it was the last drive my sweet pup and I did together before she died.As a tribute to her I made the journey again last...
new mexico sky musings ~ a new release
There was a time a long time ago when I considered signing my name on my paintings with my initials, because a landscape painter named “Dawn” seemed a little too sweet, maybe even cliche´. I’m glad I got over that. According to my mother, it was my father who...
being scared. but doing it anyway.
A few days ago I released to the world my latest creative project. I put it out there not knowing if anyone would be interested. That’s the scariest thing about being an artist: Putting your very soul into something you’ve made and not knowing whether it will be...
baldy mountain ~ high country snow ~ new painting & print
I interrupt the steady stream of weekend crane painting posts to share the gift of snow — High Country Snow. High Country Snow ~ by Dawn Chandler ~ limited edition prints (as well as the painting) now available. I don't know the exact calendar, but it seems...
painting process: the aspen pillars of my cathedral
Yesterday a friend shared with me that she’s recently taken up painting, and that she’s “learning and loving it.” (how cool is THAT?!) She further revealed that she’d really like to shadow me at my easel — and that reminded me that over the past few months I've taken...
saturday grace: secretly, joyfully, clearly ~ crane painting, ii
I was cruising along on I-25 and had just crossed back into New Mexico when somewhere between Raton and Springer something way overhead caught my eye: Wait... what is that? Dozens and dozens of birds, gliding at an impossible altitude. What ARE they?.... I had never...
new for you, each saturday morning ~ honoring grace
One of my great joys in recent years has been observing, learning about, and following Grus canadensis — the Sandhill cranes. I’ve written a good deal about these beautiful beings — here and here — and how I’ve come to love them. Some people feel a kinship to certain...