Jason Michael Dunnington

Category: Uncategorized

  • early January

    In the past I had a real problem with deciding I wasn’t good at something. Maybe I tried something once or twice and had bad results or lost intrest. Among the things I thought I wasn’t good at were web design, graphic design, managing fianances and writing lyrics for songs. There are some other things that I considedered myself having a basic understanding and I lacked the discipline necessary to do anything really of merit with it. Like painting pictures and photography. Over the last few years I have reopened the door to trying those things. Except this time, with structure and discipline. I love to read so I bought a lot of different books on subjects and set aside time each day to read. Then I set aside time to try building my own web page, along with watching tutorials on YouTube to learn Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom to give me some sort of real world reference for what I was reading in books. That’s another big part of taking on learning something new. Not just reading the literature but finding real world applications of those processes.

    What I have learned from all this is to do my best to not ever say I can’t do something and instead say “I haven’t tried that yet.” Because I know full well with a little understanding and practice I can do just about anything. Most limitations are mental constructs that can be easily avoided or countered with genuine curosity. I am sharing some images I created in photoshop and lightroom with my own personal photography. I guess you could call this graphic design. This is artwork I have created over the last few weeks.

    This stray cat was so photogenic and I really love how this image lent itself well to this effect.

    On a foggy early Winter evening I got some interesting light trail photos.

    This is a photo I took back in September and I had a photo of a painting I made back in August. During some down time over Christmas break I was stacking these images in Photoshop and trying different things. This happy accident really gave me a lot of ideas for future renderings.

    Some of the photo impressionist ideas I love to work with in negative.

    Photo impressionism is kind of becoming my niche.

    This stack was more intentional after the aforementioned happy accident.

    Photo impressionist design with key esoteric symbolic elements.

  • What a year!

    I have been so busy with class and especially finals. The end of the year just sort of arrived while I was busy living. I am so blessed and lucky to have been afforded all these opportunities, and I know that. This is why I give the amount of effort that I do. I’m all in on life and the more I give the better it gets. During Christmas break I am working on some music and photography. I’m making a lot of short video clips for social media that are gaining some traction. Otherwise my photography work gets the most hits from people that don’t know me. The music content gets the most hits from people that know me. I thought about doing an end of year review of my favorite books and music– that I found this year. Not necessarily stuff made in 2025. maybe a “best of new-to-me books and music 2025”

    I feel like I am going to make the Dean’s List. Unfortunately they didn’t publish the list before break. I did however enter my grades into the GPA calculator that the school website has and it indicates that I definitely made the right grades to appear on the list.. Perhaps in early January the list will be provided. Anyway, here are some photos I have made since my last post.

    Edit- I made the Dean’s List for Fall 2025 Semester.

    reflection in the pond Nov 2025 Canon RF35mm

    midtown KC in early December 2025 Canon RF35mm

    well-placed artwork in midtown KC Dec 2025 Canon RF 35mm

    Country Club Plaza Holiday season light display Dec 2025

  • early November

    Currently life is really busy. I am now legitimately a Sophomore in college. After a lot of hard work I have finally made some significant progress. No time to rest on my laurels though. I will press on. In December and early January I expect more post frequency. I also have some plans to play a few open mics in Kansas City in December and January. I have had several opportunities to get some photos that I want to share

    Union Hill – Kansas City, MO Oct 2025

    Liberty Memorial area Kansas City, MO Oct 2025

    Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts Kansas City, MO Oct. 2025

    Liberty Memorial – Kansas City, MO November 2025

    Union Station – Kansas City, MO Oct. 2025

    Lake Jacomo – Lee’s Summit– Jackson County, MO

  • early October

    The past few weeks have been exceptionally busy for me with all these claseses I have been taking. However, I have taken several opportunities to paint and take some pictures. I wanted to share some of them as content. I made an upgrade to my camera from an APS-C to a full frame mirrorless Canon. I’m utilizing 50mm, 35mm and 16mm RF lenses. Here is some of my most recent artistic output.

    This photo was taken on top of Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, MO in late September 2025. Canon RF 35mm

    taken with Canon RF 35mm Sept 2025

    This photo was taken in early October 2025 on the morning of the Chappell Roan concert in Kansas CIty.

    Abstract painting made in early October 2025. Titled: Dream Sequence 1.

  • End of Summer

    As the Semester has been moving along I have found an opportunity to install a Pitch Witch bender on a Gretsch 5700 Lap Steel guitar. Also obtained a Canon RF 35mm f1.8 lens that should enable me to keep my creativity fresh through next Spring. I have two paintings that I need to finish when I find time and another graphic design concept to realize.

    The idea I had to install benders on a lap steel came as I was doing research to buy a pedal steel. I have always wanted to learn to play one. I write a lot of music that a pedal steel would lend itself well to. The lowest price on a quality pedal steel is outside of my budget right now so I started looking at lap steels and found this fella that installed some Certano benders on a lap steel in order to get pedal steel sounds. As I did some research I found the Peters Pitch Witch bender and they had a Labor Day sale right as I was looking and it fit my budget right. I also obtained a Gretsch Electromatic 5700 lap steel second hand at a very good price. The only other thing I added was a roller bridge from the Georgeboards company. They sent me a nut also but I haven’t installed that yet. For now, I installed just the benders and the roller bridge.

    Gretsch Electromatic 5700 lap steel with benders.

    I have had several opportunities to use my new camera lens in the last few days. Here are some chosen examples…

    Cathedral in midtown Kansas City, MO Canon RF 35mm

    Butterfly en macro Canon RF 35mm f1.8

    A little bee working away. Canon RF 35mm f1.8

  • start of Fall Semester

    Class has started for me and I am happy to be back. It definitely felt like a long Summer. This semester is going to be very busy for me between work, class, music and all my art projects I have going. I have backed off from playing in a band format and opted to just focus on songwriting and recording. I recently added Logic Pro to my already vast software collection on my MacPro. I have found that there are things that Ableton does better and likewise with Logic. They are both unique tools for songwriting, scoring and sound crafting. I’m quite happy to have them both readily available. Here are some of my recent photos….

    Streetcar in Midtown Kansas City, MO.

    Hairy Cat’s-Ear also called False Dandelion

    this plant is called Wingstem- taken with Canon RF 50mm

  • August low

    The other day I had a memory come back to me during a period of self reflection. Back in August 2007 I had what seemed to be an all-time low, or what seemed like it at the time. I lost my home, my girlfriend and my band had broken up. At the time I had all kinds of resentments and malicious conspiracies I had dreamt up to use as reasons all this misfortune came my way. Truth is, it was all me. I was single handedly doing all this damage to myself, seemingly behind my own back. I had a lot of heart and determination back then I just didn’t have the positive coping skills, multiple years of sobriety and I guess being accountable helps also. At that time or a few months before August 2007 I was turned on to a software program called Ableton Live from my friend Matt Kivett. It became a new obsession. Up until that point I had been writing and recording music but I wasn’t very sophisticated about it. I was more or less a party/bar musician that dabbled in songwriting. Ableton Live changed everything about how I connect with the world as a musician.

    Here are some recent photos and artwork….

    Juniper Berries en macro

    Image captured on a recent outing to Englewood Arts District in Independence, MO.

    image layered in Photoshop

  • summertime madness

    I have been spending a lot of time in downtown and midtown Kansas City in the last few weeks. There has been several songs written, another painting is finished and multiple opportunities to take some pictures.

    Intersecting Lines #2 July 2025

    Dragonfly en macro Canon RF 50mm

    Eastern Tailed Blue Butterfly en macro Canon RF50mm

    morning sunlight reflecting off of my paint brushes in July 2025

  • Mid July productivity

    I’ve had many opportunities to paint, make music, take pictures and create digital art in the last few weeks and I have taken advantage of all of them. Here are some recent examples I wanted to share.

    This is a painting I finished recently (7/25) called Intersecting Lines #1. There are several paintings in this series and this is the first one I was able to finish. Acrylic on canvas with matte varnish.

    I took this picture in early July 2025 with the intentions of using it for this graphic design idea I had in my head. Created in Photoshop with original photo taken on top of the WW1 museum in Kansas City, Mo. I am very pleased with my growing ability and discipline to realize these ideas into a finished piece of art I can share.

  • Elvis vs The Beatles

    I’ve heard this all my life. “You are either an Elvis fan or a Beatles fan.” This debate been tagged in movies and has pretty much permeated pop culture. My understanding of this debate is a matter of how their music was recorded and presented. The Beatles were into multitrack recording, doing overdubs and in essence making studio work and the act of recording a part of the songwriting process. Elvis, on the other hand recorded most of his work with a live band. There were some multitrack style music in Elvis’ catalog. However, when we think of Elvis and his songs the ones that are most famous are live recordings with session musicians. This live recording vs multitrack recording debate has been around as long as Elvis and The Beatles. Maybe longer. Personally I like the idea of crafting a song and having a workflow that utilizes what sounds good and edits out what isn’t working for the song. Live recording is great and definitely has a place….

    I finished two paintings today. Both are some of the most recent that I started which are Mixed Media Abstract. I have several other paintings that aren’t finished yet. I journey beyond abstract into cubism and impressionism. All of my paintings will soon be available for sale on Etsy. My mixed media abstract paintings will be numbered. My theme paintings (will) all have proper names.

    Mixed Media #1

    Mixed Media #2