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Dawn Folkes - Acrylic Painter

Writer's picture: Jordan BrinkworthJordan Brinkworth

As someone who developed her artistic skillset throughout childhood, Dawn left school with dreams of being a professional artist. Overtime however, that dream fell further out of reach until eventually she forgot about art altogether. As we will uncover, Dawn’s path in life has been an arduous one; full of discovery and re-discovery; learning and re-learning; disappointment and hope. In this regard, art for Dawn, after picking the paintbrush back up again later in life, is a source of joy, escapism and a means by which to express her inner thoughts and feelings. Yet perhaps most of it all, it has become a way for her to convey to others how they too may find solace within the likes of nature and our other worldly realms.


‘As a child I enjoyed time on my own, mostly because I didn’t fit in…I would get lost for hours with just a pencil and some paper’ Dawn tells me. ‘I used to focus on drawing beautiful women and fashion accessories and it was not long before I began to excel in school in my art and textile classes… Upon leaving school I went to Stratford upon Avon college, I loved every second, somehow, I had found a place that I felt comfortable’. Indeed, it all seemed to be very positive for Dawn, well this was until she had to move to Cornwall with her parents.

‘When I moved to Cornwall I attended a new art college, though this meant that I had to start my course all over again which was a massive disappointment for me. I didn’t do well starting the course again and unfortunately lost sight of my dreams. I didn’t touch art for many years after that’ Dawn sadly tells me. ‘About 10 years ago my step mum encouraged me and brought me some art stuff, I painted one painting but still struggled with self-confidence and hid it away’.



It is tragically fascinating is it not? That we humans can be so talented, yet if we lack the confidence to express ourselves then those marvellous skillsets may never leave our notepads, laptops, or thoughts. Indeed, just because one has talent does not mean it will out. Yet what we often forget is how we are all uniquely gifted in one way or another and that by acting upon those talents we can positively vitalise not only our own lives but of those around us. So, how did Dawn begin to find her confidence again to create and look to publicise (which Art Etcetera has been more than happy to do) these marvellous pieces you can see here?

‘After the birth of my third child I became really poorly. I had to close my business and struggled with my mental health to the point of me nearly not being here anymore’ Dawn upsettingly informs me. She does not go into further detail on this difficult part of her life yet tells me that she began her process of recovery by heading out into nature (for further discussion on nature’s existential qualities, please see our previous issue 17, ‘Coasts’). ‘I began my healing journey and found so much peace and inspiration in my walks and hikes by the sea and woodlands’ Dawn says. ‘My partner brought me some art stuff for my birthday 4 years ago and slowly I began to rediscover my passion for arts and crafts’.


‘Learning about purpose, healing, and re-parenting has brought up many subjects and feelings. One of my first favourite paintings is called “Breathe”. It depicts a woman walking through the trees… it conveys a sense of being lost and cold in the forest with the leaves blowing in the wind. I hoped to convey a message within the painting that peace is found within’. In this regard, Dawn begins to tell me that her paintings reflect her desire to feel a sense of being in the moment, a sensation also known as mindfulness. ‘Meditation and mindfulness practices have been monumental in understanding myself’ she informs me. ‘Art is a form of flow [a word frequently used when referring to mediation, which often pertains to a state of being completely absorbed in something] … I can sometimes find myself procrastinating but when I paint everything becomes quiet and peaceful. I can listen to my intuition and feel my way through the painting’.



When Dawn began to dive back into arts and crafts, she firstly began to experiment with pyrography, an art form which involves using a heated tool to burn designs into materials. ‘I really enjoyed the process of burning the wood and mark making… it felt similar to putting pen to paper’ Dawn tells me. ‘I then learned how to create using epoxy resin [a medium used to add a glossy shine to artworks] and began to work with colour for the first time… Drawing and sketching every day then led me back to picking up a paintbrush again. I started working firstly with acrylic, and now I work with acrylic paint and oil paint, incorporating metallics, and creating textures by mixing paint with sand, filler, foils and the like’.


‘I didn’t think I had an artistic style’ Dawn adds. ‘But over time I began to see that my art had a distinct look… though if I had not found a sense of style then my plan was to paint a hundred paintings until I found one’. Indeed, there is no denying that Dawn’s paintings, be they of people, nature or animals, or a mixture of all three, have a distinct metallic sheen to them. As well as the subjects themselves, moreover, it is arguably this use of darkness and light metal that provides her pieces with the mystical elements that epitomise her works – and make them perfect for this issue, the winter solstice.


‘Every girl loves a fairytale and dreaming of magical lands to escape to when going through hard times’ Dawn tells me. ‘I grew up thinking I was dumb, some people told me I was, and I believed them… so I thought I wasn’t enough, so I didn’t read books, after all they weren’t for someone like me. So instead, I read about myths and legends and about the hero’s journey. I have a keen interest in exploring the paradoxical aspects of our lives and the way we lead them. I also find it interesting to try and uncover the lies in society, to explore notions of conformity, and generational trauma. I want to inspire viewers of my work to think about themselves and their lives and dreams’.



‘Most of my themes are centred upon aspects of healing, breathing, grounding to our bodies, gratefulness and being present… This comes from my own healing through therapy, deep reading [a phrase that can mean to read something assiduously, as if you were reading an academic text as opposed to a novel], and spirituality… I also feel intuitively guided by knowledge, inspiration from other artists and writers… my artistic journey so far has been about finding and honouring my own voice, especially as I had a lot of problems with identity growing up. In this regard a part of my healing has been about finding out what I like… how could I possibly know what I like if I am too busy trying to be what I think everyone else wants me to be?’


On a parenthetical note, it is fair to say that Dawn is not along in thinking this. Indeed, you could say that the bulk of us humans refrain from following our passions and embarking upon a journey of self-discovery because we are so conscious of adhering to other people’s expectations of us. What we forget however, arguably to our detriment, is that we can never know what other people truly think. So you may as well follow your dreams – after all, to paraphrase Jim Morrison’s biography: 'no one here gets out alive anyway'.


A theme within Dawn’s work is that of the wintertime, which of course ties in rather well with our winter solstice issue. ‘I started noticing that the cold weather was a feature that was cropping up in my works quite regularly… I am drawn to black and white contrasts and the lights and the shadows that these shades cast… I think it is interesting because I often think of my mental health as being expressed in rather black and white terms’. Indeed, as Dawn highlights within her works and through her own journey; where there is darkness, there is also light.

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