( 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 Smith is an award - winning author and former CBS Morning News anchor . In 2006 she left her job and became an artist . She sees her art as a continuation of her storytelling .