( CNN ) Dana King 's career used to take her to far-flung places like Rwanda , Kosovo and Afghanistan , where she would report on the latest news as part of her job as a TV journalist . These days however , the Emmy-Award winning reporter spends her time painting watercolors and crafting sculptures in her studio in the Bay Area of San Francisco . After a fruitful career in journalism spanning decades , which saw the 54-year-old anchor CBS Morning News and ABC 's `` Good Morning America Sunday '' King decided to go back to her original love -- art . `` I 've always been an artist , it 's always been a part of me , even as a journalist . It 's the way I see things visually , it 's the way I interpret information , '' she says . King 's art explores the human form , with her colorful clay sculptures examining the intricate musculature of both male and female shapes . She also produces charcoal drawings and oil paintings , and has created a public sculpture which for a time graced the corner of San Francisco 's Union Square . King sees parallels between her former career and her art : `` I still tell stories . But I tell stories with sculptures and I tell stories with paintings . `` The difference is that a painting or a sculpture will last as long as the material lasts . A television story -- it 's a minute , a minute and a half , two and a half if you 're really lucky , and if you did n't see it when it aired , it 's gone , '' she says . Her early work was heavily influenced by the strife and suffering she saw traveling the world as a journalist , and served as an emotional outlet for her to overcome the negative news that surrounded her in her professional life . `` You have to find a way to tell those stories and survive them emotionally , '' she says , `` but I do n't have those stories in front of me anymore . Now I can do whatever , I do n't need to do the dark and often ugly as a way of staying okay , '' she says . After a lifetime spent in the deadline-driven , fast-paced world of journalism , King says she relishes the time and space afforded to her by her art : `` I like that feeling of not feeling rushed , of not feeling like I have to be in control of the process at all ... and I 'm just really along for the ride . I do n't feel any time constraints . I do n't feel anything pushing me to go from point A to B to C . ''
Dana King is an award-winning journalist and former CBS Morning News anchor . In 2012 she changed her career and became an artist . She has been a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine since 2008, writing about art, culture and politics in addition to reporting on news stories for The Washington Post and other media outlets.