Meet the Artist-Bonnie Dent watercolor

1.   What do you want to share with others in your work?

      I was an art teacher for 37 years, and my sharing through those years involved helping people learn what they could do with their own skills and creativity.  Now, my focus is on developing my own art, and sharing it with others.  Art is interactive…everyone looks at a piece of art through their own eyes, with their own experiences coloring what they see .  I enjoy doing realistic and impressionistic art, and then hearing what memories and feelings my art provokes in others.

2.    How do you make time for your art?

       I make time because I am excited about creating art. For many years I have put my own art on “the back burner” while my energies were used for teaching.  Now with time to paint, I am finding that I am thinking about painting and creating much more of the time.  I often get up in the middle of the night to work on an unfinished piece.  I also enjoy working on art at the gallery when not busy

3.    How does mall-town life help/hinder your work? http://www.experiencewilliams.com/

             This small town, after 40 years, seems filled with friends… supportive, caring friends.  

             Their interest and encouragement have been invaluable.   

      4.   Which Piece(s) would you never sell?

            A few pieces, not to be sold, are ones with special memories. One of these is"Rushing  

            Stream"

, my first 

with a friend, 

en plein aire painting done on location beside a rapids in 
            northern New Mexico.  It was such a joy to paint.    

          

          

  

     

5.  

  What (or whose) other artworks do you display in our home?

            My husband and I have a home filled with many artists' work including Drake Seaman,       

            David Drummond http://www.drummondart.com/ and Hopi artist, Richard Dawavendewa.  I   

            many countries and cultures, including China and Japan.  My 

have collected folk art from

            most recent acquisition is one 

of Tom Williams' bells, and I hope to add work by other   

            The Gallery in Williams  artists 

soon.

       

   

 6.

    

 What obstacles do you overcome to create?

             Time, money and organization are always challenges for me.  Since I "thrive in clutter", 

             keeping art supplies organized is a chore.  Recently we designated one room as my studio, 

             so the mess is now contained! 

         

             Speaking of challenges, one of the great amazements of life is how the medieval and  

             Renaissance painters found time to paint.  They often had to  locate their own pigments in 

             nature, grind them to make paint,and buy or make wood panels ,copper plates or woven 

             canvas just to be ready to paint.  Brushes were often home-made, too.  Boy, are we lucky.  

             If I had to do all that, then housework, a paying job,  bill-paying, shopping and child-care 

             would never get done...or more likely, painting would never get done!

      7.       Are your ever bored?  How do you break out of a slump?

            Bored? No, that is never a problem.  If I'm stuck away from my art supplies, I plan the next 

            painting in my head. I do this as I go to sleep, too.