At Realism Live recently, Eric Rhoads and Peter Trippi awarded artist Dawn Whitelaw with the Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award. Enjoy the following presentation that honors her journey:
Early Influences and Education
Dawn Whitelaw was born in 1945 to a mother who painted and wrote poetry, and a father who was a surgeon with a strong artistic side. Even her younger brothers are creative to this day.
While painting didn’t come into Dawn’s life until later, she was a ‘maker’ from very early on. Eventually, her father offered to pay for her college education in the arts, but with the agreement that Dawn would also pursue training as a teacher, which she says was “out-of-the-box thinking for a girl in the 60’s.”
She went on to earn a BA at Nashville’s Christian-focused Lipscomb University, LU, in 1967. There, she met Clay Whitelaw, with whom she later married and had their daughter, Benja.
And despite the fact that she swore she’d never teach, it turned out to be something she truly has a passion for to this day.
First Steps Into the Art World
Dawn augmented her LU training by taking printmaking and sculpture classes at George Peabody College, which is now part of Vanderbilt University. Having trained primarily in graphic design, she duly landed a job creating pen-and-ink illustrations for the Yellow Pages.
Next came employment in a small advertising firm, then a stint as interim art director for a Nashville magazine. In 1987 she decided to “up her own game” by attending workshops all over the country. She was an enthusiastic and quick learner. On the side, Dawn taught as an adjunct at LU through 1999.
Mentorship and Artistic Growth
In the following years, Dawn took workshops with Raymond Everett Kinstler, whom today she describes as her mentor. She says, “I can’t even tell you how he shaped my path as a painter. I asked him, ‘How can I be a better portrait painter?’ And he replied, ‘Get out and paint the landscape.’ And that led me down another wonderful path.”
A visit to Dawn’s studio will reveal that she paints not only landscapes and portraits but also interiors, architectural paintings, still life, and even abstracts and experimental works.
Today most of the paintings she sells via galleries are landscapes — some created entirely en plein air. Dawn is unapologetically devoted to a late-19th-century aesthetic that highlights the way light and colors capture our eye.
Connecting with Portrait Subjects
When it comes to portraiture, Dawn says that along with sketchpads, paints, and brushes, one needs to bring sensitivity. Kinstler taught her the importance of aspects such as the way subjects tend to hold their head or posture, or what topic makes their eyes light up. Whenever possible, Dawn travels to meet her sitters, sketching them on site, taking reference photographs, talking with them about their interests, and seeing the clothes and backgrounds they prefer.
She brings the same attentiveness to detail to her landscapes. She says, “You might see a pretty scene, but what was it that made you want to paint it? The more you can connect personally and emotionally with the subject, the more it carries over to the canvas.”
Continuous Learning and Inspiration
Although Dawn continues teaching, she still attends workshops offered by others and is inspired by her peers and students alike. She says, “I learn more than just what the teacher is teaching, but also how students react to different approaches. This experience fine-tunes my own teaching.”
Dawn’s approach reminds us that learning never ends — there is always more growth ahead, no matter how talented one already is.
Dawn Whitelaw is a member of the Plein Air Painters of the Southeast, the Chestnut Group, Portrait Society of America, Oil Painters of America, and the Artist’s Fellowship. She has been featured as faculty for Plein Air South and the Plein Air Convention and Expo. In 2016, the American Impressionist Society elected her to Master status and she has a painting in the permanent collection of the Rahr-West Art Museum.
From Fine Art Connoisseur
It is our pleasure to present Dawn Whitelaw with the Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award.
See more from the artist at www.dawnwhitelaw.com.
View more artist and collector profiles here at FineArtConnoisseur.com.
I am incredibly blessed to have fallen into Dawn’s studio and under her wing when I first began painting. Her teaching and her friendship have been the most influential parts of my growth as an artist and teacher and of my work ethic. Congratulations, Dawn. No one is more deserving.