SOUTH FREMANTLE artist Dawn Meader, renowned for her joyful works and helping beginners to pour their hearts onto a canvas using meditation, has died aged 61 after a brief illness.

Ms Meader grew up in Kent, England before migrating to Australia in 1986 and studying at the Claremont Art College, sparking a successful career in painting, sculpture and mosaics, as well as leading art retreats in Perth, Bali, India and Italy.

• Artist Dawn Meader inspired others who she helped pour their hearts onto the canvas.

She had drawn and painted since childhood, but started using painting as a way of expressing the dreams and visions she saw while meditating in her early 20s.

“My paintings come from the deepest place in my heart and often I am guided to paint an inner experience because it is about a deep healing that so many of us crave,” she previously described her work.

While teaching others, Ms Meader said she mixed art techniques with “letting go”.

“When you paint from the heart, it ripples out into all areas of your life, allowing expansion and growth to come, fears to drop and the joy of truly being yourself to flourish.”

Ms Meader’s public works include a magnificent glass mosaic for the baptistry pool at Geraldton Cathedral, which was added during the church’s major renovation in 2017 and took 12 hours a day to design and create.

She also created a lotus flower-themed pond in Cape Cod in the United States and a community mural in Dhaka, Bangladesh for UN-Aids, while holding numerous local exhibitions.

Ms Meader’s funeral will be held at the Norfolk Chapel, Karrakatta Cemetery on Tuesday, November 28 from 10am – 12noon.