FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Date: September 05, 2019
From: Dunedin Fine Art Center
Contact: Ken Hannon @ 727.298.DFAC

Hanging out, drinking delicious coffee, talking about art… ahhhh, that’s the life! Well, that IS the life at least for an hour or so each month at the Dunedin Fine Art Center’s Coffee and Conversation series. Enjoy coffee (Presented by the Sterling Society of DFAC) and insights as each month’s invited guest holds forth on their own area of expertise. Admission to these relaxed talks is $5 and is FREE to current DFAC members.

Thursday, September 12th, 2019 at 12 noon, the series launches its’ new season with artist Cheryl Yellowhawk. Cheryl started her artistic journey when the loss of her mother left her with a deep sense of loss for her and the Native peoples.  Researching here ancestors and Sioux mythology at the Institute of American Indian Art, she was drawn to the story of The Sacred Pipe and Black Elk, an Oglala Sioux holy man.   It was his vision that made a connection to her spiritual path.

She will discuss some of the paintings that she created during that time of transformation.  After several years she turned back to this reality with a more heightened awareness of beauty.   Today, she paints beautiful women, children, and flowers. in addition to New Mexico landscapes 

Cheryl Yellowhawk was an Army brat and then lived in the Twin Cities area in her teens.  As an adult she lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has settled into the Tampa Bay area since 2004.

Cheryl’s father, a career army master sergeant, moved the family several times throughout the U.S. and Europe, where she developed an appreciation for the diversity of European art and architecture which contrasted greatly with her mother’s Cheyenne River Sioux reservation in South Dakota. Her fondest childhood memories are stories told of great-great-grandfather, Peace Chief Yellowhawk (sans-arc meaning ‘Without Bows’) and great-grandmother Nancy-Who-Sees-the-Horses, a survivor of the Battle of Wounded Knee and recipient of the Lewis and Clark Peace Medallion. Her grandmother’s spirit and medicine woman connection to the mysteries of life are passed down through Cheryl’s art. Cheryl reclaimed her Sioux name after her mother’s death in 1985.

Cheryl lived in the Twin Cities area in her teens,  Santa Fe, New Mexico as an adult and settled in Tampa Bay in 2004. It was during her career as a cardiac rehabilitation nurse she that began to take classes in drawing and painting.  Her teachers immediately took notice of and nurtured her natural talents. When she retired from nursing, her patients gifted her a complete box of oil paints and brushes and sent her on her way. She graduated with a B.A. and B.F.A. from the University of New Mexico and the Institute of American Indian Art. 

To this day, Cheryl continues to take classes and workshops.  A few of her prestigious mentors over the past 30 years include:  Michael McGuire (NM landscape) and  Irene Delka-McCray (Figure Drawing) with the Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM, Karita Coffey (Ceramics) and  Craig Locklear (Printmaking) with the Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, NM, Markissia Touliatos (Portraiture in oils) with the Dunedin Fine Art Center, Dunedin, FL and Master Pastelists, Doug Dawson and Richard McKinley. 

Cheryl uses bold bright colors in all of her work.  Her subject matter ranges from Southwestern landscapes, women and children enjoying the Florida beaches and exquisite florals and still life. She is currently creating a series of uplifting and inspirational art books of her imagery and poetry. Through the gift of art, Cheryl has recovered from depression, P.T.S.D. and D.I.D. which was brought on by a series of sudden tragic and unexpected deaths of family and friends.  Her first book, co-created with Rev. Martin Preston with the Center for Spiritual Living Florida Gulf Coast, “Finding Grace Through Grief” is available to order on Blurb.com. Poster, giclees and textiles of her work can be found on ShopVida.com and FineArtAmerica sites.

Besides being a working artist, she is currently a member of the Pastel Society of Tampa Bay, a member of the Dunedin Fine Art Center, the Pinellas Park Art Society, the Indian Rocks Beach Art Center, PAVA and a long term president and event coordinator for The Fine Arts Society which originated in Belleair Bluffs.

For more information and to view a gallery of her artwork visit: http://www.cherylyellowhawk.com/

So stop by for some Coffee & Conversation. Or call ahead to the Palm Cafe’ (298.DFAC ext 237) and have lunch waiting for you!

Coffee and Conversation with Cheryl Yellowhawk – Thursday, September 12th, 2019 at 12 Noon.

Dunedin Fine Art Center
1143 Michigan Blvd.
Dunedin, FL 34698

727.298.DFAC
www.dfac.org

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