Local exhibit shows “The Art of Healing”

Serene. Calm. Peaceful.

That’s how Bloomington artist Dawn Adams describes her paintings in the exhibit “The Art of Healing,” which is currently on display at the Venue Fine Art & Gifts until May 10.

“The Art of Healing” stems from Adams’ grieving process of losing her son, 19-year-old Wade Steffey, whose body was found on Purdue University’s campus in Lafayette on March 19, 2007. Steffey, who was a student at Purdue, was electrocuted in a high-voltage utility room after attending a frat party.

Since then, Adams has shifted her style of art work from fused glass to oil on canvas.

Her paintings consist of water, horizons and landscapes with blue overtones.

“I looked for subject matter that would be something that I could communicate with and something that would be helpful for me and therapeutic for me,” Adams said. “I also wanted my paintings to be therapeutic for everybody, not just me.”

Adams said she appreciates painting rather than fusing glass because the results are more immediate, although she admits she is “not a very quick painter.”

The painting “Where Water Meets Sky,” the largest canvas at the exhibit, depicts a horizon meeting a body of water.

“Even in doing landscape, I feel like my work has got a little different approach to it,” she said. “The water has a lot more texture and variety to it.”

Adams’ paintings are created from pictures she has taken or composites of images she has put together. She chose these paintings to be exhibited because they are
images of the Midwest.

“She’s exuding a kind of multi-faceted nature to her creativity,” said Gabriel Colman, curator for the Venue. “Each painting represents at least 20 different layers of work, and a layer represents attention to it and the time to let it dry, so it’s got a lot of depth to her work.”

Colman said it is typically hard to paint water in paintings.

“It’s so fluid and so dynamic that you really have to be able to master that quality,” he said. “So I’m thrilled to have it on the walls.”