CRISTY DUNN FINE ART
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5/9/2020

Betwixt and Between...

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Again and again, I feel compelled to paint windows ... What do they mean? 

As artists, we strive to get better and better at listening... call it inspiration, the creative voice.... it has been described in so many ways because it is bigger than words. I deeply believe that our truest and best work comes not from us but through us and it comes from the Source of all Creation. 

Often we make art as an answer to a deep need we have to calm the turbulence inside. The act of creation can stir feelings that are buried so deep we don't even know they exist and it can be painful and chaotic. It can hold us in a trance, but it is powerful medicine and the process ends with our subconscious more ordered.
These windows and doors started appearing in my work soon after I lost my husband but the house was my grandparents', where I spent the happiest part of my childhood. The figure here is autobiographical. She speaks to a time when I realized that making art was a powerful way to escape the difficulties of life. That much I knew, but the window? And then windows and doors kept showing up. I had little idea what they symbolized, but I knew enough to keep listening. ​It can take years of reflection before we begin understand what our symbols mean. 
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I recently found an echo in Sharyn McCrumb's essay, Keepers of the Legends, in which she discusses the theme of the power of borders between things. ​McCrumb points out that this "liminality... was part of a world view held by the ancestors of the mountain people for thousands of years... the border concept is central to their world view..." In The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter,  Nora Bonesteel recalls that when she was a girl...
"a few of the old women claimed that Balm of Gilead ought to be harvested at dawn or at dusk, but these days she dispensed with that part of the ritual. Early mornings and evenings were colder than mid-day, and she was too old to brave a chill for the sake of rough magic. She understood the logic behind the stricture, though. There was a power in the borders of things: in the twilight hours that separated day from night; in rivers that divided lands; in the caves and wells that lay suspended between the earth and the underworld.... the mountains themselves were borders" ​
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Deep loss or trauma forces us into this liminal state... this state of being betwixt and between. What was once a familiar world is just upside down, we are disoriented, and we are set apart until we find a way to integrate this upheaval and find a new order in our world. This can take years. 

The most powerful creation happens when we access this liminal state.  (And grief is not the only one way to get there.) We get a glimpse of what lies beyond the world we see and draw from that world the language that speaks to our truest selves. 

The windows represent that border between what we see in here and now and the vast expanse beyond. We are spiritual beings in a physical world. Maybe these are windows to our truest selves. 

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Many of us have experienced profound loss since the pandemic hit. Loss of jobs, businesses, loved ones, and loss of the routine and social contact that are familiar and comforting. I hope you can find some inspiration in this state of being betwixt and between. 

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9/14/2019

behold...

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'Behold. I stand at the door and knock.' 
​                                                                                Revelation 3:20
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’                                                                                               Matthew 25:40
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Behold. 36x24. Oil and Silver Leaf on Panel.
This painting is a praise to all the gentle souls who lend a hand to children in need, who counter all the dark forces that tear us down. ​
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4/22/2019

illuminations

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April Showers bring May Flowers... and Illuminated pages!
​

These rainy mornings begged for some brightness, so I took out my watercolor paper, inks, and Silver and Gold Leaf and set to work on some illuminated pages. I've always been fascinated by the Medieval Manuscripts. How dark life must have been for the people who lived then with little rule of law or protection from violence, disease, and turmoil. All they had to look forward to was Heaven. The art of the time period is an awesome example of the power of the Arts to uplift the Human Spirit and give us hope where none was before. 
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And here's an uncolored version for you. You can print it from the PDF below and use your colored pencils and markers to make it your own. Enjoy!
above_all_else_guard_your_heart.jpg
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My Mom really loved this, so I'm working on a special piece for Mother's Day, and if it's done in time, there will be prints available. I'll keep you posted.

If you're a Maker, I'm hoping to schedule a workshop at Johnson County Center for the Arts for making Illuminated pages. Let me know if you're interested! I will likely develop this into an online course later this year, as well. 

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If you'd like to learn more about how Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts were made, check out the video below from Khan Academy. 

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1/9/2019

DAY 9 OF tWELVE fOR tWELVE

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DAY 9 Is here already. Here's the collection so far... 

These all feel like one or the other of my children. 

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1/4/2019

Twelve for Twelve Update

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The cycle... I'm wondering if this has anything to do with my middle son, Kyman, moving away to college this year... Tomorrow is going to be a surprise!

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1/2/2019

Twelve for Twelve 2019: Day 2

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Last year's hummingbird Twelve for Twelve was a lesson in listening. I didn't set out to paint twelve hummingbirds, but one day led to the next, and the series came together as an acceptance and a  celebration of the whole of life with its joys and challenges. 
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Beginning. 
Building. 
Guarding.
Fledging. 
Flying.
Watching. 
Resting.
Falling.
Supporting.
Praising.
Savoring. 
Ending.

​"We are more than the clouds. We are the whole sky." 


This year, I don't have much of a plan yet, either. But the Wren has been the subject of Day 1 and Day 2. This little "King of Birds" has a rich history in symbol and myth. Celtic mythology considered the Wren a symbol of the past year. This little bird is known to sing, even in the dead of winter. The wren's symbolic Celtic meanings include activity, vibrancy, alertness and efficiency. St. Stephens Day is Ireland was for centuries celebrated by killing a wren. Read more here. ​

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1/1/2019

Twelve for Twelve 2019

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My good friend, Temple, gave me a wren's nest from her front porch as a birthday gift last year. It was almost unrecognizable as a nest, but its roots and twigs have been near my painting area all year and have served as inspiration. I had a different idea for a starting place for this Twelve for Twelve series, but yesterday as I was sketching and preparing, my son Kyman called my attention to a wren that was industriously working and singing outside our kitchen window. I took it as a sign, since these magical little birds rarely show themselves. And so, a wren is what I am beginning with today. More later about the fascinating symbolism of these tiny "Kings of birds". 

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12/10/2018

Forever...

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I have to share this Haiku, written in response to this painting by my very talented friend, Russell Mays. 

Delicate sparrows
Tiny joy-filled reminders
God Loves every one
New Prints Available
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In the coming year, I hope to spend more time in Nature. There is so much inspiration around every corner, and life and work have been keeping me inside way too much. The inspiration for this painting came from a walk on Gentry Creek Trail.
​Sparrows have struggled through thorns in recent paintings, stared knowingly from Gothic window ledges, but here they rest playfully and at home on soft moss. Winter is coming, but as always, they are at peace.

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 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?      Matthew 6:25-34
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11/18/2018

Saying Goodbye to the Fiddlemaker...

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PictureThe Fiddlemaker. 24x36. Oil on Panel.

This post is overdue. Mr. Alfred Michels, the Fiddlemaker, passed away in late September. Everyone who was fortunate enough to know Alfred instantly fell in love with his lilting old world accent and the sparkle in his eye. He was a person who lived deliberately and simply, and he left a rare and beautiful legacy for us all. 
Here's a link to his obituary. 
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Alfred Michels with his portrait. 2016
Alfred and his wife Amy grew most all their food. He worked his land with horses, just like my Grandpa used to. A filmmaker recently made a movie called "Mountain Minor" that features a fine young local musician, Asa Nelson. Alfred's horses are also in the movie, and he worked with Asa and the film crew. The movie is in film festivals now, and I just can't wait to see it! 
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Alfred works with the film crew of "Mountain Minor" gettting ready for the scenes with his horses.
...and did I mention that Alfred didn't just make fiddles... he played the heck out of them! He played for years with the LazyBirds, an awesome little band that is based in the North Carolina Mountains. Here he is playing "Draggin' the Bow".
​I have a few reference pictures left, so Alfred will appear in at least two future paintings. Like all who knew him, I could myself blessed to have met and been inspired by Alfred Michels. 
[object Object]

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10/16/2018

Special Exhibit: Sacred Space at Warren Cultural Center

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Thank you to my friends at Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield, Iowa for sharing my work in your corner of the world. This is a beautiful venue!
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    Cristy Dunn

    Painting Makers, the Tools of Making, and the Magic of Creation. 

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  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • SHOWS AND EVENTS
  • WORKS
  • STORE
  • Classes
    • Painting Water in the Landscape
    • Portraits in the Style of the Old Masters
  • PORTRAITS
  • Murals
    • Clarence "Tom" Ashley
    • Birth of a Ballad: The Capture of Tom Dooley
    • First Sunrise: Fred Price, Clint Howard, and Sons
    • Historic 1925 Fiddler's Convention
  • CONNECT
  • PATREON SECRET STORE