The beautiful intensity known as my grandson turned a year old a couple of days ago. He is an unsettlingly wise old soul with big brown eyes that penetrate into the very core of your being if you happen to catch his gaze....but that's seldom because he's very busy unwinding life's mysteries on a perpetual basis. He has many things to explore and he's already behind schedule being the true Scorpio sun, Scorpio moon and  Mercury in Scorpio that he is.

I couldn't even begin to wonder about the depth of learning my daughter has had over this past year. She keeps those things close to her heart and she doesn't do the feels very comfortably. I imagine though, that this little guy of hers will daily challenge that approach.  I can see her grace permeating throughout her as only a young woman learning how to be a mother can embrace and it makes my heart explode with love and love and more love for her.

As for me, I have to acknowledge that Anne Lamott's book, Some Assembly Required,  has saved my life this past year. Anne never takes herself too seriously, but she is full of wisdom, humor and insight and she's not afraid to say fuck. For me, that's a perfect combination and it's one of the few books out in the world that talks about the personal journey of becoming a gram. Like a mantra, I repeat her words over and over....."We bless the full expression." 

"Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant-there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing-and keeping the unknown always beyond you."   Georgia O'Keefe

The Reynolda House Museum of American Art is hosting the exhibit: Georgia O'Keefe: Living Modern through November19, 2017 in Winston Salem, NC. It's a beautifully and thoughtfully curated show that highlights her sense of modern style in dress, art, homes and life. These are three shirts that she wore. She meticulously mended them when they showed signs of wear. Many of her clothes she sewed herself and her vision extended seamlessly from life to canvas to clothing.

Georgia O'Keefe wore Ferragamo shoes and had a pair in every color. Ferragamo.....

Find out more about this exhibit: www.reynoldahouse.org

 I loved making books in college and it's been so gratifying to return back to these roots after all these years.

The idea behind this assemblage of books speaks to the legacy of our names and their lingering energy long after we die. It is comprised of three seperate compartments that house an accordian book and a modified coptic stitched book with leather spine.

The images of the accordian book were printed on film and layered over letterpressed envelopes which held letterpress copper plates of names from the 1940's. By revealing the names underneath through the transparency of the images, the names can be read which allow the memories of that deceased person to return to the surface of remembrance.

Truly honored to be a featured photographer on the Motherfstop website, especially when there is a roster of absolutely phenomenal photographers featured. You can check them out here:

http://motherfstop.wixsite.com/motherfstop/single-post/2017/08/20/Dawn-Surratt

i can feel summer ending. i'm not sad about that. i'm not going to lie, it's been a tough summer. all the uncertainties and the ways that life is unpredictable have been crashing down around me since june. it's tested my foundations and i suppose that can be a good thing, but it's not an easy thing. all the platitudes that i effortlessly spouted off to others during my career as a social worker come floating back to my mind like karmic slings and arrows.

but now i see the light is changing and there is a shift in the earth's energy. transition again. i will welcome this one. 

my show's coming down today a.k.a. what the hell happened to june?

the awesomeness that was my opening was possible only by the love and support of so many wonderful friends, family and the Horace Williams House committee. i will never be able to express my gratitude for the opportunity to show my work at this incredible venue. the memory of that day will be one that i will always treasure. 

The Leaving // Horace Williams House, Chapel Hill, NC // June 4-25, 2017

unpredictable and ever changing...this is life. 

my show, the leaving, is opening on sunday and i am so thrilled. the work was born out of upheaval, loss and transition. it is deep, soul work. it is work that reflects the healing and the tenacity of the human spirit through grief and pain. the universe has an amazing sense of irony. on monday, tim's workplace burned to the ground. luckily no one was hurt. the sheer devastation of this loss has been surreal. i bear witness as he and his colleagues pick up the pieces with grace and guts, determined to rebuild once again. art and life perfectly mirrored.

as i look into the eyes of my beautiful grandson, i am reminded that nothing stays the same. the only thing constant is change. we are told that grief comes in stages. they are not stages, they are feelings and we feel them as we work towards resolution. there are no right or wrongs, there are only choices. and when we least expect it, the intensity of grief will make itself known again and again, of this you can be sure. it is at that time that we do not dare to shame ourselves for “not getting over it” but realize that as life moves us, we move with it. because our worldview changes over time, grief will quietly demand us to revisit it and to glean different lessons. and it is in that way that we press forward…..feeling, learning, creating and kicking some ass.

A big, huge thank you to Amanda and Kevin at A.Smith Gallery for making this image, What Remains Behind, the Director's Choice Award for the show "the imperfect lens" which runs through July 9th in Johnson City, Texas.

Many thanks to Susan Burnstine and A.Smith Gallery for the opportunity to show these two images in the show, "the imperfect lens" which will be on view May 12-July 9th in Johnson City, Texas.

So often when there is an amazing sunset, my first instinct is to turn directly towards it with my camera, trying hard to capture its beauty. The colors are so intense that I just want to hold onto them forever. But I have never been successful in capturing that. if I turn away from the sunset and look at the other parts of the sky, the energy that is present elsewhere is what I am looking for. The sky in its entirety reflects all the beauty of the mood.

I was very happy to meet the lovely Michael Pannier, Director of the Southeast Center for Photography in Greenville, SC and to see my print Tangled, hanging in the Beyond the Selfie exhibit. The exhibit will be on display through the end of March.

wake up, mother. feel the energy of the changing light. look at the newborn colors of the trees and bushes. stirrings abound. spring.

there are days when i think i want more same because same is safe and knowable. there are times when the same is all i can do and that's enough. the days of same are important in their structure and they hold space for me so that when i am able to feel that i can embrace the different and face the possibly unsafe or unknowable, i will remember them as days that deepen me differently and i will be willing to take that risk for differentness again when i am ready. 

One of the many qualities that I love about my husband Tim is the way that he observes the world around him. Most days, he will bring me a treasure that he has discovered during his day...whether it's seed pods, rocks or dead birds dragonflies and butterflies, he will tenderly bring me amazing things that have captivated him knowing they will captivate me as well. Recently, we were in Chicago for a week. He had to work, but I got to play. Fortunately at night, we got to play together. While we were out walking in the thick fog one night in the heart of the city, Tim said "look at those wings". A bird had met its demise and all that remained was its wings laying in the gutter. I guess I would expect to see something like that in the rural area that we live in, but seeing the rawness of nature on the busy city streets really awakened me. Set against the city buzz, everything seemed to align once more and I was reminded of the connection we all have to one another and every living thing...even in the midst of the fast pace of city living and these impossibly disconnected times. It gave me hope.

when i was very young, my mother told me that a dragonfly would stitch my mouth shut if it landed on me. for many years afterward, i was terrified of dragonflies and would scream if they came near me. i was sure their long tail was as sharp as a needle...that they would hurt me as they stitched my mouth closed. my mother never knew how her words had effected me. what seemed harmless to her was deeply traumatizing to me. it was that way with most of her words. what i came to understand many years later, was that dragonflies were not the ones who could hurt me, it was my mother.

Dear Jerry Uelsmann,

I had the opportunity to hear you speak yesterday. The words you spoke were so moving and impactful, but it was the things that you didn't say that moved me the most. 

Thank you for your soul bearing emotions that made their tender and wrenching way through your words.

Thank you for showing your raw, vulnerable grief and struggle to resolve it through your imagery.

Thank you for embracing all photography in its various forms.

Thank you for reminding us that we are first and foremost humans and that it is the camera...a mere tool,  that is at our mercy. 

Sincerely yours,

Dawn

“And every year there is a brief, startling moment 

When we pause in the middle of a long walk home and 

Suddenly feel something invisible and weightless 

Touching our shoulders, sweeping down from the air: 

It is the autumn wind pressing against our bodies; 

It is the changing light of fall falling on us.” 

― Edward Hirsch, Wild Gratitude

the strange and haunting time of early fall.

i have always felt that september has a distinct sadness to it....  the time of  year when all my past losses and memories come flooding back  to remind me that they are a part of me... asking me humbly to honor them once again.