Dawn Whitehand: Visual Artist
Drawing
NaPoWriMo 2013: Five Favorites
There are just a few hours left in NaPoWriMo 2013 -- that is, National Poetry Writing Month, which asks participants to write a poem every day in April -- and hundreds of resident WordPress poets are pressing "Publish" on their final stanzas and sighing with relief and satisfaction.
We've loved reading all the verse that floated across our Readers this month, whether from brand-new bloggers committed to the 30-day challenge, long-time poets, or non-poet bloggers who were inspired to try something new.
Handmade Gift Cards
Did you know that as well as making sculpture and jewellery and functional tableware I also make blank gift cards?
The cards I make feature images of my artwork, images of ephemeral artworks or original hand drawn images – not pictures of them, the actual drawings.
All gift cards are blank so that they are ideal to compliment any gift on any occasion for any gender – as well as being a unique gift within themselves.
All cards come with an envelope in a protective plastic sleeve, and are frameable once the gift giving is over.
The following images are some cards that feature in my Etsy Shop, where you can buy online, and over the next week or so I will be adding more cards in time for Mothers Day.
My “OTHER” Blog
This image is today’s pages from my poetry and drawing journal. These poems and drawings are published on my ‘other’ blog entitled A Poem and a Drawing a Day – I am up to day 179, 18th January… even though today is the 2nd February. This is because while in Italy I fell behind in my writings and postings for a variety of reasons – inconsistent internet access, busy days and BECAUSE I WAS IN ITALY!!
So, since getting back home I have been trying to remedy this by posting two poems and drawings a day – a harrowing task! It means writing two poems as soon as I wake in the morning and then doing fast responsive follow up drawings over a morning cuppa.
Slowly but surely I am catching up…
You can check out my ‘other’ blog here… I hope you enjoy it 
journal entry
A Poem & Drawing a Day Project – Just Reached 100 Days!!
Back on the 24th July I got this crazy idea to start a new wordpress blog documenting myself writing a poem a day, and creating a fast and responsive drawing to the poem…. a drawing which could possibly be further developed at a later stage, perhaps in a larger format.
Today is Day 100!
And it had been a very interesting experience. While I enjoy recording my thoughts, writing a ‘poem’ every day takes a fair amount of dedication and discipline, and then a drawing on top of that…
It has also been enriching, however. Purging can be very therapeutic I have discovered! So purging on a writing AND drawing level is doubly therapeutic!
Below is a slideshow of some of the more recent drawing inspired by the poems of the past 100 days. Under the slideshow is a photo gallery of the same images – so view whichever format you prefer. Enjoy
Nature Drawings…
I have been getting into some drawing of natural objects recently – I don’t quite know why, but I have been enjoying it for something different. I am enjoying the loose fluidity of drawing with a black fine liner, and adding a bit of random water colour. I think the two mediums compliment each other.
I have also drawn some of these images on some blank gift cards, and listed them in my Etsy shop – they would make great gift cards, are original art pieces, and are suitable for framing .
Here are some examples:
Weekly Photo Challenge: Mine
Being a mother there are not many ‘things’ that are ‘mine’. As mothers we are socialised to be selfless, and ‘mine’ implies a level of possession and selfishness – not necessarily in a bad way. Being selfish is a survival mechanism, but as mums your instinct – which is reinforced by societal conditioning – is to protect your kids first. So I had to think about this challenge, and what I consider to be MINE!!
So here it is : HANDS OFF MY PASTELS!
To see some of my drawings you can visit my OTHER BLOG
Poetry and Drawing Diary Entries
Today I ran out of (nice) visual diaries…. MASSIVE DILEMMA!!
I like to write my poems and create my instantly inspired drawings using journals that are textured and handmade and …well…nice! It inspires me! As opposed to the journals I use to sketch out art/exhibition/installation ideas.
So, it has been quite a mind f%u&c$k* (just mixing it up & being polite – I don’t really know why).
Tomorrow though I am going into town (I live regionally) so can buy a few journals - if I can find them. The last time I went to my favourite ’hippy’ shop they were out and would not be getting some in soon…. what!! If you’ve been watching Big Brother I feel like Layla without here hair rollers!!
Anyway, today’s poetry effort, therefore, has been entered into my work diary on the days of 24-25th September - obliviously nothing going on those days!! Sheessh!!
You can check out this dismal – yet wonderful (?) entry on my poetry blog : http://apoemandadrawingaday.wordpress.com/
Recent Doodles…
Pretty self explanatory. Not much to say except that most doodles are done whilst on the phone. Haven’t really thought about parrallels between what the doodle is in relation to the subject matter of the phone conversation… maybe from now on I will!!
New Drawings : Pastel on Paper
This slideshow features some drawings which I have created recently inspired by the poems I have been writing for my new Blog A Poem and A Drawing a Day. The drawings in this slideshow are all pastel on paper.
ENJOY – and don’t forget to check out the new Blog
This work by Dawn Whitehand is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
