Iʻm kind of at a loss for 2021 about what to write about. I started off the year with Kānehunamoku, an exhibit at the Hawaii State legislation entryway with photographer Jan Beckett but everything got cancelled after that. When in desolation, Ignatius Loyola advised keeping your focus turned outwards in serving others, and when you have the joy of consolation, you can turn inwards with thanksgiving and worship to the Highest Power, the Lord of Light, Jesus the Christ.

In between my studio work and teaching art to kūpuna online, I occasionally work as a sub in the Hawaii Department of Educationʻs schools in the Honolulu District. One such day, the teacher had asked her students to write down questions to ask ʻa real artistʻ. Iʻve decided to use the posts for this year to answer these questions, for them, and others like them, and quite frankly, for myself. Send me a DM to my instagram or FB account #dawnyoshimurastudio or email me if you wish to share your thoughts or feelings about this.

QUESTION 1: Did you wanna be an artist when you were a little kid?

Yes, I did, although I didnʻt know it was a real job. I couldnʻt think of any other job that seemed to suit me. Although at the time the job ʻartistʻ seemed to be a man with a mustache and beret with a bottle of wine in hand. So I would have told you then, I wanted to be able to draw in peace and quiet for the rest of my life but didnʻt know that was part of being an artist.

QUESTION 2: How much did it cost you to be an artist?

I think they wanted to know how much it would cost before I could work as an artist. So in my case, I first started on a Scholastic Art Scholarship through the national portfolio competition. I was one of 10 representatives from the State of Hawaii in my year. I was accepted at Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design and California College of Arts and Crafts, among other schools. It was quite expensive, even with tuition, my parents had to take a loan out and work overtime to pay for my tuition, supplies, housing, food, clothing, etc.

QUESTION 3: What was the biggest challenge you face when you were in Art Class?

If we are talking about high school, it was that we lacked supplies and the classes were large and filled with a range of kids who were very interested in learning how to make art and those who were totally not interested and caused disruption and made it hard to concentrate.