Diane Smith

“Never take a job using your hands,” my dad would say. But for me, there was piano, guitar, macrame, knitting, drawing, typing, gum wrapper chains – I couldn’t get enough of working or playing with my hands and it continued in my gift giving – decoupaged posters, hand-built wood holder, crocheted rug gift. It seems I just had to do something with my hands. I was never encouraged to be an artist. But, an artist I am. It is in my soul.

I love the sheer joy of using the loose, flowing medium of watercolor. I become totally absorbed in painting and enjoy creating images that are inspirational to other people. In my series of people from the 50’s and 60’s, the moments of peoples’ lives transcend time. We all share emotions–love, joy, anger, sadness, and painting a moment can bring the viewer back to the experience of the people in the painting. People relate to my paintings as if they were from their very own life experiences.
​
My paintings are vivid with strong color and images that are well defined yet oozing with paint–intertwining to make connections and pull you into every corner. I love the looseness that the media of watercolor does so well–flow and mingle. I feel as if the creative process almost flows through me and some ...

I am a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, I have been painting watercolors for the past 25 years. After attending several college level watercolor classes, I attend workshops by well-known painters such as Robert E. Wood, Charles Reid, Arne Westerman, Alex Powers, Thomas Schiller, Timothy Clark, Don Andrews, and Jean Dobie,