About the Instructor: Dawn Cardona is a self-taught cut-paper artist who has recently taken the meaningful step of pursuing formal art education for the first time. Although Dawn does not come from a traditional academic background in the arts, she has built a successful career over the past twenty years as a children's book illustrator and freelance artist, with creative play at the heart of everything she does.

For the past six years, Dawn has been deeply engaged in the practice of Gelli plate printing—experimenting with its expressive possibilities and teaching others to explore both the forgiving and challenging aspects of this medium. Dawn has developed instructional content for Creativebug.com, guiding students through playful and process-driven approaches to printing with this tool. Dawn teaches gelli printing and cut-paper art at GHIA.

Dawn is passionate about the power of creative play as a tool for learning and self-discovery. When we allow ourselves to play, we give ourselves permission to make mistakes, take risks, and explore who we are through our work. Dawn’s goal is to help artists embrace both their strengths and their perceived weaknesses, using every part of their creative process as a pathway to growth and authenticity.