Daily Inspiration: Meet Emily Dwan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Dwan.

Hi Emily, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Art has been my passion since I was very young. As a child, I always had a wild imagination and I always loved creating odd projects or drawings. I studied fine art and art history at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. I also studied watercolor and art history abroad in Florence, Italy.

After graduating in 2009 I moved back home to Chicago where I painted the cityscape from my window on the 23 floor of a high-rise that had a stunning view. I have always been greatly inspired by the Impressionist work at the nearby Chicago Art Institute and you can see a direct correlation to my current style of work.

In addition to that, I enjoyed the street art that I saw while riding the El train around the city. Combining these influences from two seemingly opposite types of artworks helped to mold my unique style.

I moved to Denver, Colorado in 2011 where I ran to find inspiration and the gorgeous surrounding nature immediately moved me. I worked out of my home until 2016 when I moved into a proper art space in the heart of the RiNo art district where I remain today.

After moving to Denver, I continued painting cityscapes for a few years but soon after, I changed my focus to natural landscapes. Much of my work today is directly influenced by the Colorado landscape. In my pieces, I aim to capture the positivity and peace that these locations bring me. I am creating a dream world rather than focusing on realism.

In addition to painting, I am also a stained-glass mosaic artist. This medium and approach are very different than my painting work. As a teenager I took an oddball summer mosaic course at a local art center. I made an unimpressive picture frame; little did I know that mosaic course would plant the seed for some of my favorite work today. So many years later I have unearthed this passion and continue to refine this unique skill of composing with glass.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We all know that being a professional artist isn’t the most lucrative job especially when you are just starting out. There is a reason for the phrase “starving artist,” I know the meaning well. For years I often ate granola bars for dinner or skipped meals, I struggled for a long time to make ends meet. A sane person would have quit long ago but I’ve always felt confident that this was the right and only path meant for me.

These struggles are a part of me, they got me to where I am today and allow me to appreciate the wins that much more. I’ve learned that every failure is a lesson if you look at it the right way. It took me more than 10 years as a professional artist until I started gaining some traction. In the past, I was never very business minded so I had to learn that the hard way.

Today, the business aspect of my art is an integral part of my work. Along with refining the business side of things, I also found a lot of inspiration after having my daughter Lucille. She unlocked something in my soul that ignited my artwork. As an artist, we are just communicating from our soul, so each failure, success, lesson, or experience combines to tell our story and each is just as important.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have two very different mediums that I work in: acrylic painting and stained-glass mosaic art. I am most well-known for my colorful paintings of Colorado landscapes. I have exhibited my painting work at many local Colorado art festivals. In my painting works I am not aiming to capture the realism, rather I’m hoping to capture the emotions that I feel when visiting these beautiful locations.

I am most proud of some of my mosaic work because it is unique. There is a mosaic rainbow floor that I installed in a salon in Five Points that is my favorite mosaic piece. I’ve also had a few mosaic guitars displayed in the Boulder Museum and I have a public art piece in downtown Golden. Colorado.

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
My art studio is located in the heart of the RiNo arts district and you can view my work at my website EmilyDwan.com and on my instagram page @EmilyDwanArt. I offer custom-commissioned paintings and mosaics as well as a wide variety of prints and originals for sale on my website.

Contact Info:

• Website: emilydwan.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilydwanart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilydwanart/