(Dana Levin) |
14 . , . (BFA) (Art Institute of Chicago), . , (Florence Academy of Art in Italy), . , , , , .
(New School of Classical Art ) -, 2008 . , . .
At first glance, the apartment is pretty typical for a suburban condo complex.
Small kitchen, baby gear, suspicious cats that eye a visitor from atop the bookcase and fridge. But when artist Dana Levin opens up the door to a small back bedroom, everything becomes clear.
Light, clear and strong, fills the small studio, from a large north-facing window that overlooks unobscured woodland and the shapes of the natural world.
“Nature is far more inspiring to me than looking at the lines and grids of buildings, ” she said. “Nature is always the source for getting shapes. If I tried to make up a leaf, I could never make one as amazing as nature. So, I might as well go directly to nature.”
A painter in the classical realism/representational tradition, Levin recently received the Dianne Rudy Memorial Award from the American Artists Professional League for her oil painting entitled “Heaven.” Her work was selected from 107 paintings entered in the organization’s 81st Grand National competition.
Levin was also named a “fellow” of the organization, explained by the League as a top-ranking member whose work has been accepted in the Grand National Exhibition for three years.
A Reading resident for about a year, Levin paints and lives in the Gazebo Circle condo with husband Adam and 11-month-old son Maxfield. She commuted to a studio in Pawtucket, R.I. for a time, before setting up workspace at home.
The change in location, as well as the birth of Max, has led to her creating smaller, more manageable artworks, usually with moments snatched during the baby’s naptime, she said.
“It’s fine because the economy is so bad that most galleries are saying they want smaller, lower priced pieces anyway, ” she said. “It was a good time to have a baby. I work much more efficiently now.”
Max, who spent a recent visit from a stranger grinning from his comfortable perch on his mother’s hip, has influenced Levin’s work in other ways as well.
“I have more compassion now for everyone, ” Levin said. “If I am doing a portrait or a figure, I’m thinking, ‘you were once a perfect baby.’”
Levin began her arts education at age 14, attending the competitive fine arts summer program, Belvoir Terrace in Lenox, Mass., and the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Fla. She earned a B.A. degree at the Art Institute of Chicago, and went on to study at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy, training under the painter Daniel Graves, where she learned the techniques of the Great Masters. Upon returning to the U.S., Levin founded The New School of Classical Art in Providence, R.I. Her work can currently be seen at several galleries, including the Walsingham Gallery in Newburyport, the Banks Gallery in Portsmouth, N.H., and the Eleanor Ettinger Gallery, in New York City.
As a local artist, Levin encourages friends and neighbors to contact her to enquire about commissioned art works.
“People get intimidated, but you should always feel free to let an artist know what your budget is. I work well on anyone’s budget.”
http://www.danalevin.com/index.html
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