Dawn Desjardins, is the author and illustrator of The Autumn Marathon, The Autumn Marathon Companion Workbook, and A Walk On The High Notes (2008). She is also the author of Leopold’s Long Awaited Birthday (a leap year story). Dawn is originally from upstate New York, and has made northern Illinois her home for over 10 years.

Dawn utilizes her theatrical background and experience in teaching all ages, when sharing her love of the arts. Her enthusiasm and approachability are apparent throughout her clear and sequential presentations ...it is who she is.

The magnificence of an IDEA and the reward of putting forth EFFORT will be emphasized in her highly visual presentation. Dawn will highlight how these two commodities are necessary for a project to start ...and (more importantly) to be finished! Her goal is to encourage and empower everyone to "Catch one of those great ideas, and see what you can do with it!"

Dawn’s goal is to ignite the wonder, curiosity, and joy that artistic expression can bring through creative writing. Ms. Dawn will share with your group her own life’s marathon toward the arts and toward her personal love of putting words together. She will address the importance of listening to critique with an open mind, and will mention rewrites, "Red marks on your paper are not bad!"

Dawn will share images from sketch to completion for her books, and will even show you some that never made it! She will take you through the back story of some of the illustrations, “What is in the picture that you cannot see?” and “Why do you think I put that, there?” and “Is this like your town?”

Expect to be inspired, and sparked …and look forward to a giggle or two or three…

Ask Ms. Dawn about how her dog is her helper ...and if she once, really had a pet chicken!

Lots of exciting stories are coming …she’s typing and painting, AND coming up with lots of ideas to share…WITH YOU!

“Ms. Desjardins interacted beautifully with each age group; the children reacted with interest, humor, laughter, admiration, and new ideas!”   Adler Park School, Libertyville, IL; Teacher’s comments (grades K-2 / 3-5)

Contact information:
Email: dawn@artistic-ventures.com
Website: http://www.artistic-ventures.com