AGOG presents Dawna-Lea “Healing Feathers”

Location

Art Gallery of Golden
Art Gallery of Golden
516 9th Ave N, Golden, BC

Date

Fri 05 May 2023 - Sat 03 Jun 2023
Expired!
AGOG is very pleased to welcome back Dawna-Lea for her new exhibit "Healing Feathers" which came about after the loss of her furry four-legged companion, Kiah.

About The Event

AGOG is pleased to welcome Dawna-Lea back to the gallery for her new exhibit, Healing Feathers.

Dawna-Lea writes,

The Healing Feathers’ collection of art came about after the loss of our furry four-legged companion, Kiah.
As many of you know such a loss creates a vacuum, filled with a whole variety of emotions and an emptiness to life’s routines. We put feeders out for the birds during the winter months; a wonderful opportunity to enjoy their activities and calls; giving life to at times a visual of whites and greys in the cold of winter.

Kiah died just after Christmas and I found getting lost in the bird activity outside seemed to help shift, for a short time, the feelings of emptiness. Within that space is where the little Downy Woodpeckers would take up residence – black, white, a splash of red on the males head and such wonderful patterns. The print of the Downy Woodpeckers is the first art piece I did and it opened up a period of creative time leading to over a dozen pieces that I have collectively called “Healing Feathers”.

This collection celebrates the healing potential provided by the natural world.

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Words to live by … expressed by Kiah: live in the moment, kindness, simple pleasures, it just is!, know what’s important, pack bonds, and what is a dogs life without the word – Squirrel.

What we have enjoyed we can never loose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.
Hellen Keller

Thank you for taking the time to enjoy “Healing Feathers”

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ARTIST PROFILE

Dawna-Lea can’t think of a time in her life that creativity hasn’t played a part.

The inspiration for her art has always come from the natural world.  During her youth she often sought out quiet places in nature, leading to creative ideas and projects.   After completing a degree in Fish, Wildlife & Recreation; she worked for many years as a park naturalist.  After moving to Golden, she was able to focus more on her art, inspired by the mountains, waterways and wildlife around her home.

Being a self taught artist, Dawna-Lea has experimented with many art forms, which have resulted in a variety of art pieces and projects. 

Dawna-Lea’s art and its relationship with nature can be found in a variety of places throughout Golden. She showcased an exhibit called  ‘At Home In The Rockies’ including a six piece mural entitled ‘Marsh-Up Close’, which can be seen at the Reflection Lake Kiosk.

She was later commissioned to do a number of historical interpretive panels for Confluence Park, which can be seen across from the airport.

A fascination with explorers led her to self publishing a children’s activity book entitled “David Thompson – An Adventure Of A Lifetime”.

Another unique art project involved gathering and preparing supplies from nature to create containers. Cedar and birch bark, spruce roots and cattails were just some of the materials she used to make baskets, bowls and unique vessels for an art show at the Art Gallery of Golden entitled ‘Nature’s Containers’. 

“If I were to celebrate creative people, I would travel back in time to watch and work with people using their hands and simple tools to make what they needed. The work they did was beautiful and essential to their way of life.” 

Dawna-Lea participated in the basin “Tour of the Arts” for several years, enjoying meeting and sharing with the public and other artists.

She has facilitated workshops throughout the basin with Metis/ Aboriginal youth and adults, as well as held workshops from her home studio in Golden.

She currently enjoys working with acrylics, artist pencils & felts, carving & burning tools and natural materials on surfaces that include paper, stone, wood, and fabric.  She continues to sell prints of many of her paintings.

 “As an artist, I leave a little part of myself in each piece. What satisfies me most? I need to create.”

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Kicking Horse Culture presents about four dozen cultural events and activities throughout the year in Golden, B.C., the traditional unceded territory of the Ktunaxa and Secwépemc Nations which is also home to Métis Nation Columbia River.