Dawn Russell lives in Suttons Bay, Michigan, with husband James, two of her four children and pre-school-aged granddaughter.  She and her family enjoy hiking, sailing, martial arts, music, and about a million other things!

Growing up in Northern Wisconsin, Dawn's early years were spent reading (mostly about horses), playing with animate creatures (horses, pretty much) and painting or drawing (... yup, horses!).   Dawn studied art and music in HS, and Fine Art for a short time at UW-Eau Claire, before shifting her focus (for "practical" reasons) to Business Information Sytems, then graduate studies in Entrepreneuership at DePaul University in Chicago.

After college, Dawn worked in Business and Medical Information Technology for twenty-some years, before picking up the paintbrushes again, this time with vocational intent!   She works under the auspices of Russell Arts and Technology  (aka dcRussellArts, est. 2010).  While she continues to straddle the line between left/right-brained pursuits, she has shifted focus almost exclusively to Fine Art pursuits -- painting and teaching -- with a little bit of graphic design work on the side.

Current Activities -- ( list in process )

Sketching, Plein Air, Teaching, Travel Journaling, ...
Working through creative block, 
Ramping up to update website,
Finish some paintings
start blogging

Past Adventures -- ( list in process )

Artist-In-Residence -- Cordia, Grand Traverse Commons,  Dec 2015 - May 2017
Artist-In-Residence -- Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Sep 2021
Gallery 22 -- Owner, Co-Founder, 2010 - 2014
      Grand Traverse Insider's "People's Choice Award" for Best Art Gallery, 2014

Psalm 37:4 is a source of encouragement and the foundation for Dawn's “work” as an artist. And as for that profession, “Working as an artist, in beautiful, Leelanau County ... it doesn't get much better than this!”