musings from the studio and beyond ~
dawn chandler’s reflections on art and life. . . .
celebrating grace ~ they lift me ~ crane painting, vii









All photos & paintings throughout this blog are by Dawn Chandler unless otherwise noted.
celebrating grace ~ mysterious figure revealed ~ crane painting, vi
Perhaps it’s time now to reveal this mysterious figure who keeps appearing in these, my crane paintings.
That figure is my mother.
My mother, who grew up in New England, married my father, who grew up in New Jersey. They met in college and were married in 1954, a year after they graduated. They were married for 53 years, before my mother succumbed to breast cancer in 2007.
Their first few years of marriage though, they lived in New York City while my father attended medical school — just an hour or two drive from the Appalachian Mountains of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — the landscape where my father, in his youth, had become a passionate outdoorsman.
And now in those newlywed years, my father had the supreme joy of sharing his beloved mountains with his best friend.
As I look through my parents’ crumbling photo albums from their early years together, I find pages of black-and-white photos of forest trails and mountain views.
And always there are happy young adults — my youthful parents and a couple of friends or family members, exploring the woods and gathered round rustic campsites. Their gear is almost inconceivable today: wicker leather-strapped packs, canvas tents, metal pots covered in fire soot. Cotton dungarees, flannel shirts, hand-knit wool sweaters and scarves. Leather boots.

My father, Steve, on the left, with friends.
An aura of contentedness rises up from these pages, and with that, a tug of yearning in my heart.
I want to transport myself into these photos and hike with them.
I know these forests, for these are the same woods in which I learned to be an outdoorswoman. Where my parents and brothers taught me how to build a fire, pitch a tent. Where I learned the deep, deep satisfaction of a warming beverage after a long day on the trail, and the equally deep comfort of campfire conversations with family and friends.
Yet while all these visions of camaraderie speak to me, there’s one photo that just makes me catch my breath.

My mother, Marion.
What is it about this photo of my mother pausing during a winter hike and being contemplative as she takes in the view before her that moves me so?
In part it’s knowing that my father took the photo. That he looked up from whatever he was doing, and captured this tender, poetic moment of his beloved.
But also because I see myself here.
I am she and she is me.
And I think how often I have stood solitary, staring out into the distance in silent wonder, lost in my thoughts, lost in the view. Reflecting on the past, dreaming of the future… taking a deep breath of gratitude, of presence….
.
And now I lift her from the stillness of these faded family memories, and bring her to life again among the cranes.
Did I mention she loved birds?
I remember seeing her out in a snowstorm distributing birdseed to all of the feeders around our yard.
I don’t think she ever saw a Sandhill crane.
But you know if she had, she would have been as enraptured of them as is her daughter.
I Am She and She Is Me ~ by Dawn Chandler
mixed media on panel ~ 6″ x 12″
Collection of the artist
But of course in these paintings, my mother’s figure represents each one of us… lost in thought, lost in the view. Reflecting on the past, dreaming of the future… taking a deep breath of gratitude, of presence.
Blessings to you all.
May you have much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.
Thank you for being part of my blog tribe. It means a lot to me.
Namaste ~
~ Dawn
celebrating grace: their return brings song ~ crane painting, v
Their return brings song to my heart.
Indeed.
As you read this I’ll be packing up to return to the Bosque del Apache, to witness sunset tonight with the cranes and geese.
And maybe, just maybe, I’ll return there a few hours later for sunrise….
And what do I — what do we — do when we go there?
We stand, silently, watching.
We stand, silently, listening.
We stand, silently, gazing.
We stand, silently, grateful.
as all of the meanness of the world, evaporates for a few brief hours
with the soaring uplift of thousands of wings
as we stand there, in awe and wonder.
Their Return Brings Song to My Heart ~ by Dawn Chandler
mixed media collage on panel ~ 12″ x 12″ x .75″
This painting is available here.
Thank you for reading my blog. If you enjoy my musings here, please feel free to share this post!
Also, I invite you to discover more of my stories, insights and art on Instagram, Facebook and via my Inside the Studio Notes — and of course here on my website, www.taosdawn.com
Blessings ~
Dawn Chandler
All photos & paintings are by Dawn Chandler unless otherwise noted.
let it be ~ sunrise east of the ranch
Sunrise Sunday morning, September 16 found me sitting in my car staring eastward from a shelf of land where the New Mexico mountains meet the eastern plains.
I’d come up here to paint.
I was feeling lackadaisical.
Too, I was hoping for the arrival of my friend who had hinted that he might be up for meeting me up here, and even bringing some coffee.
So I was deliberating whether to simply sit and stare and wait, or to actually pull out my paints.
If I was going to paint, I needed to get busy with it, soon, for any moment and the sun would be up — in fact, here it was coming already — and once it bumped over the horizon, the scene — and color — would change completely.
But pulling out my oil paints seemed like
s u c h a c o m m i t m e n t… especially when sleep- and coffee-deprived.
But come on! I couldn’t just sit there — I mean, for Pete’s sake, I’m a painter, and that’s one reason I was there that weekend to paint!
Hmm….what about a sketch?
I pulled out my sketchbook and little travel set of watercolors, wet a page with some water, and plunked in some yellow and orange….
Well, that was all fine and good, but now I needed to let that first wash of watercolor dry before adding more color….
Hmmm…..
OH! What the heck! Just pull out your oils!
So……
…I did.
And after mixing a little color here and mixing a little color there.— BOOM! — the essence of sunrise captured!
Although this morning, my rare initial languidness at getting started painting seemed like a wee challenge, the bigger challenge — one which crops up all the time when painting — was knowing when to stop, when to let it be.
For always there are two muses in your head, one that says Keep going! Tighten it up! Make it more ‘realistic. And the other that’s urging you to hold back, No! it’s just right as it is! Preserve that immediacy & energy! Don’t overwork it!
This time I listened to the latter.
And just in time for coffee! When my java delivery arrived, I tossed my paint box in the back seat, invited my pal to hop in, and turned the car around so we could admire the view to the west.
As we sat there sipping our steaming (and delicious!) brew, discussing all manner of things, and wondering aloud when we and our other friends there that weekend might unite here again, we were joined in our admiration of the morning’s view..
Sunrise East of the Ranch is one of several original landscape paintings I’m offering up for auction on eBay.com this month — just in time for the holidays! The auction for Sunrise East of the Ranch went live Wednesday evening, November 7th with a starting bid of $1 and will run until Saturday evening, November 10. Check out the auction here.
And if you’d like to be notified when each November auction goes live, shoot me a message at studio@taosdawn.com and I’ll add you to the Early Bird auction community!
Thank you for reading my blog. If you enjoy my musings here, please feel free to share this post!
Also, I invite you to discover more of my stories, insights and art on Instagram, Facebook and via my Inside the Studio Notes — and of course here on my website, www.taosdawn.com
Blessings ~
Dawn Chandler
walking into the storm with arms open wide ~ crane painting, iv
That thing you’ve been avoiding?
That thing you’ve been putting off, ‘been skirting around?
That thing you don’t want to do is the thing you have to do.
That thing you fear?
Time to face it.
Do it. Do it now.
Go walk into that storm with your arms open wide.
…and you may discover a couple of angels along the way….
Walking Into the Storm with Arms Open Wide ~ by Dawn Chandler
mixed media collage on panel ~ 8″ x 8″
This painting is available here.
Thank you for reading my blog. If you enjoy my musings here, please feel free to share this post!
Also, I invite you to discover more of my stories, insights and art on Instagram, Facebook and via my Inside the Studio Notes — and of course here on my website, www.taosdawn.com
Blessings ~
Dawn Chandler