THE ARTISTS
Being an artist is being on a constant quest for discovery and knowledge and clarity and insight into perception, thought, dreams, emotion, habits, mediocrity, and brilliance.
Being an artist happens when you have the desperate need to communicate to and inform an audience, even if it's just yourself.
Being an artist means you reinterpret your experiences, the societal pressures placed upon you, the childhood you had, the life you're living, your successes and failures, into a reimagined form that can speak to others.
Being an artist is a constant process, not a permanent trait. It's a transient state of being without constant reinforcement through the process of creating something.
So many people (who voluntarily label themselves as non-creatives) think about art as something abstruse, and being an artist as requiring an innate skill. I instead prefer to believe that art is a habit.
Given time and dedication, everyone is, can be, and perhaps will be—an artist.
DAWN SHIREE BLACKBURN
Dawn is one who is compelled to make something from nothing. To take a blank surface and create a new reality. To look at everyday objects and have no choice but to recreate them into something no one else sees.
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There is a direct conduit from her eyes to her heart to her hands, a trilogy of physical energy infused with something unknown. What is it that force that she feels, to strive for deeper beauty, greater intricacy? Only she knows, but we all benefit from.
All she knows for sure is that if someone is infused with the vision of an artist and doesn't pursue it in some way they will suffer and so will those around them. Art chooses the person, and it choose her.
NORA KELLEY Maly
Kelley was born in southern Illinois, but grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. She graduated from Des Moines Technical High School in 1981, then later earned her Associates degree in computer aided drafting from Hamilton Business College in 1994. Kelley has successfully and proudly been a design drafter for nearly 40 years and resides is West Des Moines, Iowa.
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Kelley has always been interested in the arts. She has dabbled in many art forms, choosing not to limit herself to just one. She prefers to be called a “D.I.Y.er.”
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Kelley is a single parent of a beautiful, talented and successful daughter, who has blossomed into a passionately creative woman. Using that “D.I.Y.er” mentality to raise her daughter, only reinforced what she has always believed, if you love what you do, it’s not a job, it’s a passion. With that thought, life is limitless.
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Kelley creates art from the whimsical to the practical. She truly enjoys making lawn art out of anything and everything. And brings to reality visions for celebrations by creating centerpieces, banners and all that transforms a space into an exciting wonderland for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, baby showers and corporate gatherings. She also repurposes furniture to create new and exciting functional pieces.
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Now, concentrating on flexing that creative muscle, Kelley has entered into the art and craft fair arena. She looks forward to sharing her art with the world.
