Although I love art from all of the major fields, I tend to gravitate toward the visual arts of painting and drawing. As a kid, I remember taking watercolor painting lessons and although I didn’t feel I was very good at it, I enjoyed every minute. It is my fond memories of watercolor painting that caused me to reach out to an Oviedo watercolor painting legend as the 1st OWSAA Feature Artist. That artist is Caryn Dahm.
Caryn has a degree in visual
communication from The Ohio State University and a background in graphic
design. Her favorite art medium is watercolor and chances are you have seen
some of her work around town. She is a regular exhibitor at Great Day in the
Country hosted by the Oviedo Woman’s Club, she has won the Taste of Oviedo
poster contest twice (2013 and 2015), and from 2018-2020 Caryn’s art was
featured in some local Hallmark stores as their “resident local artist”. Caryn
serves on the City of Oviedo Public Arts Board for which she designed their
logo. I had the pleasure of serving with her on this board for a couple of
years and it was here that I saw her love for our community.
Along with teaching adults, kids,
homeschoolers, and teens year round, Caryn hosts an annual summer camp for
elementary aged children at a local church. The art camp is called CampCreate
and this year it will be held on June 20th-24th and/or
June 27th-July 1st from 9am to noon. My son attended this
camp last year and had a great time!
Caryn has lived in Oviedo for almost 22-years in the same house. It was out of this house that she began teaching art classes to those wanting to improve their skills. In September of 2021, Caryn opened her own studio called A Create Place. I recently asked Caryn some questions about her new studio and below are her responses:
What inspired you to open the new studio?
I loved teaching art classes out of my home to people interested in expanding their skills with drawing, graphics and watercolors. It became tough for my family to eat their dinners on the back porch and stay in their rooms when I held classes in my kitchen, lol. I had art supplies, paintings and packaging materials stashed in every room of our house. I also host a summer art camp the last two weeks of June and that requires me to store lots of children’s art supplies. We knew it was a long overdue solution to give me a place to work from home more simply and to have ample storage.
One of the biggest reasons for the studio is to have a place to make a mess with my own art as I create for clients. I’ve been busy live painting at weddings, creating the recipe art pieces for families, and doing large canvas work for people who want a customized piece of art to pull their home’s color palettes together. Those had been very challenging to paint in my dining room area! Having the art studio allows me to keep my paints and supplies out as I come back and forth to a project throughout the week. Typically, I have multiple projects going at once so often I’m using multiple easels and my large desk.
What types of events do you plan to host there? When/what is your next event?
I plan to continue teaching a weekly class for students to come on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:30. I call it “Open Studio” because it is less of a formal class and more of me giving techniques and art theory in the beginning and then people can work on whatever projects they would like in any of their mediums of choice. I’m there to give suggestions and help with their process.
I host art sales from the studio around the holidays and have a corner set up year round for if people want to pop over to buy notecards, a print or a gift.
I have also been having small paint parties of groups of 18 or under. A Create Place has held paint parties for elementary aged kids, Girl Scout troops, 50th birthdays and church lady paint nights. I love these as it does my heart good to see friends and family getting together, laughing and celebrating. Guests can bring their own snacks and decorations. It makes for a sweet and intimate small group setting.
I’m continuing to hold weekend workshops of leading whoever is interested in different themed projects. I love learning so I try to incorporate new projects, themes etc. For example, on April 9th we’ll be hosting a class about hospitality where we paint a pineapple using watercolors and discuss easy, affordable ways to be hospitable.
I want to use my studio to help people celebrate the simple joys of life as well as create art for their homes that refresh and inspire others.
Lastly, a question I will be asking all of the artists in this series, who/what inspired you to become an artist?
As with many artists, I always loved making things and growing up I spent hours at my dining room table doing collage and models with my older brother. When we took a summer art class one year everything about it seemed to sing that it was for me.
I want to thank Caryn for taking time out of
her busy schedule to share some of her story and more about her new studio with
us. If you or your children are looking for an art class that will inspire you
like the one Caryn enjoyed growing up please check out her website, www.caryndahm.com, for more details on upcoming events. On her website, you
can also learn more about commissioning a custom work or schedule a live
painting. You can follow Caryn on Facebook (@artistcaryndahm), Instagram
(caryndahm), and Pinterest (@CarynDahm).
I hope you have all enjoyed this first
installment of the Feature Artist series. Until next month, enjoy the arts Oviedo!
Brian K. Smith
