Dawn grew up on the Canadian prairie.  She graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1971 and began a teaching career.  Teaching was a challenging and rewarding part of her life. The experience reinforced that all of us are perpetual students. Through travels in North America and abroad, she has explored a wide range of cultural and institutional art.  She believes that visual art is a universal language, which reinforces our common human experience.
Dawn completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Calgary in 1990, majoring in painting and drawing. Since then, she has continued to explore art making through workshops including  the Kenderdine Campus, Emma Lake Artist’s Workshop in Saskatchewan, the Leighton Art Center in Alberta, the CSPWC Jasper Symposium, the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Alberta and “Arts by the Lake” at the Georgian College of Art, in Ontario and various art programs in Arizona. 

It has become clear to her that for an artist there is no obvious career path. Each artist has to chart their own course. Painting is physically and emotionally demanding with many challenges along the way. The painting process feeds her creative spirit. For this she is grateful.