Del Mar woman’s astral artwork chosen for annual Artwalk event

By Claire Harlin

editor@delmartimes.net

When something isn’t going the way you want, paint over it. That’s the philosophy that Dawn Kureshy said has made her grow as both a painter and a person over the past five years.

“It’s that process of letting go of your ego, letting go of expectations in front of the canvas,” said the Del Mar resident, whose work was chosen to be featured in the upcoming Mission Federal Artwalk San Diego. “If you can really do that, it can carry over to your day-to-day life. Not that I can do it every day, but that process of being worried about everything, judging yourself, judging other people — when you can let go of that, it’s really very freeing.”

This is Kureshy’s third year to participate in the Artwalk, which will take place April 28 and 29 in Little Italy, but it’s her first year to have her own booth at the event. In previous years, she displayed her work as part of a group, but this year her work will be more prominently displayed at the juried event.

Kureshy’s paintings are inspired by images of the universe taken from a Hubble telescope. She is fascinated by websites such as

www.mydailygalaxy.com

, and she prints out photos of her favorite celestial images to recreate on canvas.

“I’ve always loved the sky, whether it’s the night sky looking at the moon or just loving the way it looks during the day,” said Kureshy, a St. Louis native. “I don’t know what possessed me to start looking at those sites, but once I did I got hooked on it.”

Kureshy said she is fascinated by the color combinations of the cosmos, but the vastness of space enthralls her the most.

“It’s just so amazing that those real life images are out there, that they are so far out and greater than us, beyond anything we could ever put on a canvas,” she said.

Kureshy has a bachelor’s degree in medical technology and worked for years in laboratories before she began selling medical equipment to labs. She began painting four years ago, and now hopes to move toward making a living as an artist.

“I’ve always wanted to be an artist but my parents were very practical and encouraged be to get a real job, so my artistic yearnings came out in things like crafts and making cards,” said Kureshy.

She finally got up the courage to start painting, and later took classes at the San Diego Museum of Art. When those classes ended, she joined the Art Department in North Park, which is part of the San Diego Art Institute. She has a studio in North Park, as well.

Kureshy has dozens of paintings of galaxies and stars and planets, and although she is not sure if she will continue with that theme, she knows she will “stay abstract.”

“That same subject is constantly evolving,” she said. “It will always be there.”

For more information on the Mission Federal Art Walk San Diego, visit

www.missionfederalartwalk.org

.