#dawnyoshimurastudio

Learn to Paint Color Bridges

December 12, 2020

A free session with artist and creator of Color Bridges–calligraphic abstracts that serve as visual prayers for your encouragement. The session will be broadcast from Impact Hub Coworking in Kaka’ako Honolulu Hawaii and limited seating for members only are available. But for the rest of us, due to COVD19 we have to be a little flexible so I am broadcasting this session virtually and for free–but for those who are local, you can purchase a kit for $30 that includesRead More

How does inspiration come to artists?

November 25, 2020 Artistic practice, Commentary-Debate, Living Aloha
Sameland by Dawn Yoshimura

I wanted to write a post reflecting upon conversations in the past year or so with other artists. Many assume that artists are all visually stimulated but I’ve found that not all of us find our inspiration in the same sensory way. I am auditory–which is why mo’olelo or story is so important to me in creating and processing my world. I talk to myself. I don’t like to listen to music while painting–it disturbs me. But as artists, weRead More

God is the original artist

October 15, 2020 Uncategorized
Sameland by Dawn Yoshimura

I grew up in Kane’ohe, Hawai’i where the majestic Ko’olau mountains were literally outside my door. I would wake and look at the peaks to decide what kind of weather we would have by looking at the color of the sky and type of clouds in early morning. Even as I learned about geology and how they were formed, the raw beauty of them is undeniable. A journey I have been walking for some time now was to discover myRead More

Straddling Worlds

September 29, 2020 Artistic practice, Hawaii, Living Aloha, New Work, News, whattodoinoahu, Workshops

Many of you know I work in a variety of media, but watercolor is my passion. There is nothing else like it that responds so eloquently and honestly and lets light pass through the pigments and bounce back! Using my multicultural perspective, I listen for, and connect on an emotional level with mo’olelo (stories) of other times. These stories become paintings and projects that give gentle encouragement for alternate stories to be heard. Just as I switch between two homes,Read More

HWS Members Show 2020

March 29, 2020

Color Bridges

March 19, 2020 Artistic practice, Community, Hawaii, Living Aloha, New Work, News, whattodoinoahu, Workshops

I got some positive feedback when I got to present my Color Bridges at the Community Main Stage at last year’s Honolulu Biennial and it gave me encouragement to continue to follow my instincts on not only creating them but also sharing them both as finished works of art and as a method to learn to use color. Color Bridges are my calligraphic abstracts I paint using harmonic color to express a prayer to the beholder. There is joy inRead More

KĀNEHŪNĀMOKU

January 20, 2020

TLR Total Life Recovery

December 21, 2019 Commentary-Debate, Community, Living Aloha, News, Social Activism

Turning Stories into Life Changing Lessons The Total Life Recovery Program (TLR) at the only Women’s Community Correctional Center in Hawaii is a faith-based, gender specific program that addresses every area of a woman’s life mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. TLR equips participants with the knowledge and tools they need to live successfully everyday with dignity and self worth – bringing hope to incarcerated women who are now committed to changing their hearts, changing their thinking and changing their goals.Read More

Bezalel-Finding our artistic heritage

November 24, 2019 Artistic practice, Commentary-Debate, Exhibits

I’ve written before about searching for my artistic heritage in a cross-generational, cross-cultural personal history and how recently I’ve come to see Bezalel as my artistic ancestor and inspiration. As an artist, there are certain themes and symbols that are recurring and others that evolve along the way, building upon past experiences and knowledge collected along the way. A recurring image for me is the Ko’olau. I love when traffic is slow coming down the Likelike because I can openRead More

Chemistry of Water

October 15, 2019 Exhibits, Hawaii, New Work, News, whattodoinoahu

October 18-November 22, 2019 at the Honolulu Museum of Art School Main Gallery Hawai’i Watercolor Society’s Open Juried Show opens on First Friday to the public. Besides Wahi Pana: A Sense of Place, an exhibit sponsored by the Artists of Hawaii Association (AHA) earlier this year, I will have a few works in this open juried show that I wrote the proposal on the concept for on behalf of the Hawai’i Watercolor Society. The concept was to bring together twoRead More

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