Dawn Stacey originally studied Textile Design but later graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Illustration from Brighton University. She has painted professionally for close to 30 years; and has exhibited in Devon, Cornwall, London and Hampshire, with galleries such as White Space Art, Wills Art Warehouse, New Ashgate Gallery, Josie Eastwood Fine Art, and various Affordable Art Fairs. Her art has been published with Woodmansterne as greetings cards, and also as prints for John Lewis. The collections of her art have been bought by St Wilfrid’s Hospice and the Brighton Hospital Trust and she regularly donates work to charity auctions such as Chestnut Tree House. Dawn has lived in Lewes in East Sussex for more than 20 years and she paints full time in her studio from home. She has a passion for decorative frescoes, aged worn walls and tapestry which are redolent of her paintings in which she includes acrylic paint in layers.
There is a diverse and rich population of wildlife in the area where she lives, including the Railway Lands, where she walks her dogs daily. This reserve includes herons, mallards, pond life, swans and moorhens within its landscape. Her decorative surfaces or emerging textures incorporate detailed imagery from nature of flowers, birds, insects or butterflies. Frozen leaves, mist, golden light, cracked ice, or reflections on the water may conjure up an idea for a painting while she’s out walking and absorbing the surroundings and atmosphere. Her final pieces are intended to summon a vision of a dreamlike, mysterious landscape by expressing the real meaning of a place.
