Artist Trotting the Globe

By Todd Fuqua

Dale Jennifer Landry (BFA 15) is traveling the globe making beautiful art. The ENMU fine arts alumna with a minor in business is putting all of her education to work, financing her wanderings by selling original art on commission over the internet.

“My top two passions in life have always been art and travel – in equal measure,” Dale said. “When I realized I could build a client list and people would pay for my work, I began planning my life abroad.”

Through her internet presence at Etsy.com (DaleDraws) and on Instagram (DalesDrawing), she sells digital copies of her work. By working almost entirely online, Dale said costs for materials are almost completely eliminated, and she can work anywhere on the planet using her iPad Pro.

“However, there are people willing to pay for ‘traditional’ artwork. For them, I use a variety of physical media including ink, graphite, watercolor and sketch marker,” Dale said. “My other revenue stream is generated from my YouTube channel (Dale Draws), where I sometimes record the creation process.”

Dale’s travels have taken her across the globe – Canada, Sweden, England, Germany, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Belgium, Japan, New Zealand and Australia have already been checked off her list. She looks forward to being able to visit South Korea, China, Nicaragua and Nepal in the future.

Of course, her travels are now curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, finding her currently grounded in Tasmania.

“I had to choose whether to go back to the U.S. or stay where I was at the time of the lockdown,” Dale said. “I elected to stay where I was.”

Dale said the best thing she learned as an ENMU student was how to be focused and direct when working to achieve her goals.

“The art department hosted amontly design competition. It was a challenging, fun, quick-turn competition,” Dale said. “I still use most of the time-saving knowledge that I may never have learned if not for that competition and my wonderfully supportive professors.”