Having spent the early part of her childhood on Victoria Island, Dawn grew up with inspiration all around her. She was heavily influenced not only by the nature that surrounded her but also by the art of Emily Carr and the Haida art that was prevalent on the island. With tremendous support from her mother, who is also an artist, Dawn took to art at a very young age.

Dawn’s family moved to Ottawa when she was eleven years old where she would make art the main focus of her education attending the Canterbury arts program as well as post high school apprenticeships.

Dawn is very passionate about her love for art. She never knows what she is going to paint until the canvas is in front of her and she begins to fiddle with the brush.

When working on her creations, Dawn can truly be categorized as a multi-medium artist. Some even say she is an “organic” artist. While primarily using acrylics, she loves to add anything she feels would bring out the best in a piece. Whether it’s paper, wax, metals, bones, snake skins, tree bits, glass, or even bugs (already dead of course), she will use it all to build depth and texture to the piece at hand. There are no boundaries to art in Dawn’s mind.