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Painted Bunting
Artist's Statement
By creating miniature paintings and wearable art, my intent is to take the paintings out of the gallery and make them accessible. Placing original miniature paintings and reproductions in jewelry, accessories, and ornaments makes art available in unlikely forms.
Biography
Dot began painting miniatures at a very young age. She attended Otis Art Institute where she studied with Arnold Meshes, Robert Bentley Schaad, Charles White and Betye Saar. She received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in 1979.
After graduation, Dot wrote and illustrated a series of children’s books: STRIPE PRESENTS THE ABC’S, STRIPE VISITS NEW YORK and STRIPE AND THE MERBEAR, published by Dillon Press under the name Dorothy W. Decker in the mid 1980s in New York.
While in New York, Dot attended the National Academy of Design where she studied drawing and classical portrait painting with Ron Sherer and Michael Burban. She also began her freelance career in fashion illustration working with Dior, Burberry, Evan Picone, Woolrich, Hathaway, and Izod.
In 1990, Dot moved to Greensboro, North Carolina with her husband, Rick Kimelman and turned her focus back to painting miniatures. Shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York, Dot created a series of pins depicting the World Trade Center and other New York landmarks that were sold at The Eclectic Collector in Katonah, New York. A portion of the proceeds was donated to Gino’s, a restaurant that provided free meals to the rescue and recovery workers in the aftermath of 9/11.
Dot’s work includes miniature portraits, Christmas ornaments, jewelry, and election campaign paraphernalia. She began assembling her work in galleries in North Carolina and New York.
In 2008, Dot turned to Marcia MacDonald, a renowned silversmith, to create silver jewelry. Her work moved from paint on cardboard and wood to paintings encased in silver and bronze bezels. Alison Shiboski, an acclaimed jeweler and goldsmith from Eugene, Oregon has expanded the line by creating a greater variety of pieces.
In 2008, Dot entered her work in Parklane Gallery's Annual Juried International Miniature Show in Washington State where she received the Canson Fine Paper Award. In 2010, Dot also participated in the Holiday Show at Tyler White Gallery in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Dot currently exhibits and sells her work in New York at The Eclectic Collector and in North Carolina at Greenhill Center for North Carolina Art, Jugtown Pottery in Seagrove, and Saddlebags Gift Shoppe in Reidsville. She has collaborated with Debora Lisoskie Designs who is using her work to create unique accessories.
