Today we’d like to introduce you to Dawn Howell.
Hi Dawn, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up steeped in creativity and beauty — my mother is an artist who mentored me from a young age, and my father owns an antique mall, so I was raised on weekend treasure hunts through vintage finds and forgotten objects. That sense of memory, nostalgia, and storytelling has never left me.
I studied Fashion Merchandising with minors in Business and French, and later explored fine art and graphic design — always finding ways to keep creativity at the center of my life. But it was a spinal injury that became my true turning point. I couldn’t hold my youngest son. I couldn’t paint. For a year, so much of what made me me was out of reach. Through painting, prayer, meditation, and a deep commitment to healing, I slowly rebuilt myself — and in that process, I discovered what my art was really for.
Today, I create whimsical, color-drenched paintings inspired by nature, nostalgia, and emotional memory from my studio just outside of Austin, where I live with my husband, three sons, two dogs, and a cat. My work is represented by PxP Contemporary and featured with Warnes Contemporary on Artsy, and I exhibit in group shows across the country. I was recently named one of the Top 100 Emerging Artists of 2026 by Arts to Hearts Project and featured in Create! Magazine Issues 55 & 56, Art Seen Magazine Summer 2026, and New Visionary Magazine.
I paint to heal — and to remind people that wonder is something we never really outgrow.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Honestly? No — and I think that’s exactly what makes the work meaningful.
The most defining challenge came when I suffered a spinal injury that stopped my life in its tracks. I couldn’t create art. I couldn’t even hold my youngest son. For someone whose identity and joy had always been tied to creativity, that loss was devastating — not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. It forced me to ask some really hard questions about who I was outside of what I could make.
Healing wasn’t linear. It took painting, prayer, meditation, and a genuine commitment to rebuilding myself from the inside out. Art became less of a hobby and more of a lifeline.
Beyond that, the road of being an independent artist is its own kind of challenge — building an audience, finding the right galleries, learning the business side of creativity when all you really want to do is paint. Balancing that with being a mom to three boys, a wife, and everything else life asks of you is a constant, beautiful juggling act.
But I think the struggles are woven into the work now. When people tell me my paintings brought a butterfly to their garden, or that a piece made them feel something they hadn’t felt in years — I know the hard road was worth every step.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I create dreamy, color-drenched paintings that speak to your inner child.
My work is rooted in nature, nostalgia, and emotional memory — think soft textures, light-soaked palettes, whimsical details, and a sense of wonder that feels both timeless and deeply personal. I work primarily in acrylics, and many of my pieces are layered with real crystals and earth elements, because I believe art can hold energy and bring intention into a space. When someone brings one of my paintings home, I want them to feel something — not just see something.
I specialize in original paintings and prints, custom mood-based pieces tailored to a collector’s energy and aesthetic, and hand-painted wearables — custom jeans, jackets, leather goods — where I get to merge my background in fashion with my fine art practice. It’s one of my favorite intersections of who I am.
What am I most proud of? Honestly, the connections. Being named one of the Top 100 Emerging Artists of 2026 by Arts to Hearts Project meant the world to me, as did being featured in Create! Magazine — twice. Being represented by PxP Contemporary, and exhibiting in galleries across the country, are milestones I don’t take lightly. But what moves me most are the messages from collectors — the woman who told me she took my butterfly painting into her garden and a monarch appeared the next day. That’s the magic I paint for.
What sets me apart? I think it’s the why behind the work. A lot of artists paint beautiful things — I paint with intention and healing at the center. My art is autobiographical in the most honest way: I went through something that broke me open, and I chose to pour that into color and light rather than darkness. People feel that. They tell me all the time. And that, more than any gallery wall or accolade, is what keeps me at the easel every single day.
What were you like growing up?
I was quiet. Really quiet.
In fact, my kindergarten teacher thought I was a mute. I didn’t say much to anyone — I was the little blonde girl with the mushroom haircut, probably chewing on my t-shirt, just taking everything in. Then one day she asked me my favorite color, and out came this very decisive, very confident: “Turquoise.”
That story still makes me laugh — because honestly, it tells you everything about who I was and who I still am. I didn’t need a lot of words. I had color. I had texture. I had the world my imagination built around me.
I grew up with art literally in my DNA — my mom is an artist who shaped how I see beauty, and my dad owns an antique mall, so weekends were spent hunting through vintage treasures and objects full of stories. I was always drawn to things that had feeling in them — old things, colorful things, things that made you feel something without saying a word.
I was sensitive, observant, and deeply creative — the kind of kid who didn’t need to be the loudest in the room, because I was too busy noticing everything in it. Looking back, that little girl who spoke in colors instead of words? She’s still the one holding the paintbrush.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dawnhowellart.wordpress.com/
- Instagram: @dawn_howell_art
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@dawnhowellart
