Dawn is a Suffolk based painter and freelance scenic artist.

  • Scenic art -  themed painted effects, sculpture and murals in traditional light or UV.  Undertaking studio and  on site location work.

  • Portraits are a specialty, and commissions are welcomed for paintings in any subject. Experienced in oils, watercolours and acrylics. Contact Dawn to discuss possibilities, work may be done from life or photographs and can be based around your budget, so feel at ease to enquire.

  • Classes in picture painting are held in various venues and in a multitude of subjects.

  • Demonstrations, masterclasses and painting workshops.

‘..thank you once again for a very informative and entertaining evening, looking forward to seeing you again.’ Haverhill Art Group.

‘Just wanted to thank you again for a very successful and enjoyable morning. I’ve rarely experienced such a full and informative demo.’ Beccles area SAA Group

Enquries and bookings:     Tel.   079 79 72 12 53

or email     paintings@dawnpretty.com

facebook    Dawn Pretty – painter of people and places  

Twitter      Dawn Pretty @paintings5

 

Art history…

Born in Africa, descending from a settler in 1820, brother of John Alexander Gilfillan, the acclaimed Scottish painter known for his portrait of Robert Burn’s wife, and early depictions of New Zealand culture and landscape.

‘I began painting as a small bored child on a shady veranda, in the screaming heat, at a remote farmhouse surrounded by mountains and jungle. We had no electricity. A stream was our only water supply, found by a narrow path, where the trees tangled roots made steps for us, and dangled lichen and lurid giant spiders across our pathway. We’d creep into the dark, sweet, damp perfume of that secret place, where the trickle of water wove its way through jungle humus, alive with tiny crabs and catfish. Tarzan and Huckleberry Finn were my heroes. Leopards padded outside my bedroom in the evening as the drum beats echoing in the valley became a frenzied dance for flickering candlelight.

Lightning once struck a hole clean through our dining room wall, and frequently, night bush fires bejewelled the surrounding mountains like amber necklaces; my delight and terror. Creature choirs and intoxicating air, awakened all the senses after heavy rains……’

Fuelled with all this emotive energy, I painted, and desperately willed my watercolour horses to be alive. Frustration at feeble attempts was met with stoical advice; ‘Practice makes perfect,’ and, ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’. I mastered in this.