About the artist

Diana has been painting since high school, and drawing for longer. She received a bachelor's degree in studio art from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2011. Through formal training, she was able to strengthen her artistic abilities and better understand color. Diana currently works from her home studio in coastal South Carolina.

Nature has always been a source of inspiration and comfort, where I feel most at ease and where my mind can rest. One of the first trees I became enamored with was the Japanese maple at my childhood home in Connecticut. Down the road, I fell in love with the massive willow trees arched over the Housatonic River. Willows have become a recurring subject on my canvases, even though the willows on the Housatonic have long since been cut down.

With the palette knife in hand, I swirl the acrylic paints (red, yellow, blue, and white) together to create new colors. I never use black paint; its depths are too dark and drastic, and muddie the vivid colors. For the darkest darks, I like to use a deep purple or blue hue. The color palette depends on my mood, from monochromatic to blues and yellows, greens and yellows, or strictly cool or warm. I look at my subject, usually out the window. The sun glistening off the leaves is translated into a bright yellow. An overcast day, and I have to stare and squint to see any color at all. I paint a fantastical tree where there are no cloudy days. The trunk is a deep purple, almost black. The palette knife moves with quick expressionistic strokes. It takes several layers of acrylic paint, leaving little evidence of the first. Bold, bright colors with thick applications are used to translate light and movement.