Dawnielle Castledine makes art to both sooth and agitate. Her work is dark, focusing on a natural subject matter with bold lines and steep contrast. She abstracts patterns found in nature using whichever art or printmaking technique – intaglio, wood blocks, or lithography – fits the content. She is learning to hone her voice and technique under master printmaker, Terri Goodhue.
As a child, nature was Dawnielle’s safe haven, and as an adult, she has returned to it time and time again to grieve and heal. The patterns found in bark, stone, clouds, and shadow provided her mind a place to focus, and inspire awe and connection to something bigger than herself. Composition and shape play a large role in the planning and creation of her works.
Material and technique are the first considerations Dawnielle makes when deciding what images to use. For example, a tall piece of plywood fit nicely for an image of aspens that had been playing in her mind for years. Plate shape and its interplay with the paper or canvas she will be using are the second. Then, she abstracts the patterns to their base shapes and adds just enough visual texture to provide a feeling of intimacy.
Bio
Dawnielle started taking her visual art journey seriously at age 24, after her mother, a silversmith, passed away from a lifetime of substance abuse. This was the same year she came out to her family. She began with a painting class at the Dougherty Arts Center in Austin, TX during the summer of 2014.
Remembering an old dream of becoming an architect, she enrolled at Austin Community College to take drawing and calculus Spring 2015. She dropped the calculus class after the first day and never looked back. She found her way to printmaking through an art fair and enrolled in the fall. She immediately fell in love with each different technique she was taught and remains under the direction of Terri Goodhue today.