Dianna grew up on a small farm in western Washington. A child of the depression, she created enjoyment from the ordinary things of nature and cast-off objects at hand. The instinctive inclinations of those days sparked a process that has continued to grow throughout a life of wonder, expression, and education. She searched for answers to many questions and found some in art, nursing, and anthropology, with art being the primary thread connecting such disparate sources of knowledge. Her current professional life is now entirely devoted to art.
Guided primarily by intuition, she creates abstractions through a selection of media: oil, acrylic, or encaustic. The results have been rewarded with accolades and prizes regionally, nationally and internationally and have been described as lyrical, organic, and fluid. Her philosophy is that art is magical for the viewer and for artist. It should speak to our capacity to wonder, to dream, and to delight in the mystery of its personal message.
It all began in a high school art class with a linoleum print from her abstract design. It captured the attention of the teacher and she was encouraged to enter it in shows. That was the beginning of a long and diverse career. This was the peak of the Abstract Expressionist Movement, and her abstract art was there but unknown to her at the time. However, it earned her art scholarships to college, later supplemented by art courses and studio production wherever she was, from California to Texas, to Germany, England and Spain. Since 1973 New Mexico has been home where she has found equally superb and diverse art development. She retired as a professor emeritus from the University of New Mexico in 2000. Her work hangs in the Encaustic Art Museum in Santa Fe and in private collections in the U.S. and abroad.
Artist Statement
I’m basically an intuitive soul. I love a good puzzle. That’s what art is to me, the unravelling of a puzzle through curiosity, experimentation, and observation. But most importantly it is my intuition that drives what I do. Paintings are powerful tools for my ability to convey, to give me a voice for my inner world. That is the key to unraveling my art. It is as close as I can come to communicating meanings that are too nebulous to put into words.
Ultimately, I paint because it beckons me down a pathway of exploration and understanding in this complex world. It is my continuing education. I consider a work successful when abstraction provokes and teases me, when it invites everyone into the unfolding drama on the canvas. Ultimately, I want it to be an enjoyable and enlightening journey for all.
