Diane White

 www.dianewhiteart.com

Art has always been an important part of my life.  When looking back on the drawings and art projects that I brought home from school, I can see that I always felt the need to express myself with art.  It has taken many forms throughout the years, from designing and selling decorative painted items, painting murals, and now oil painting.  I paint exclusively in oil, savoring the rich buttery feel of the paint on my brush, the texture of the canvas, even the smell of the paint.

Since moving to the coastal area of South Carolina, I can often be found out at a local marsh area trying to capture the beauty of the area as well as local wildlife and birds.

I am drawn to the still life by the way the light falls on ordinary objects, illuminating them to draw the viewer into the painting.

Many of my still life paintings begin long before I even enter my studio.  Through years of combing antique shops and flea markets, I have collected many interesting pieces that find their way into my paintings.  More recently I have been trying to use ordinary objects such as take out containers and chopsticks, in a symbolic way or with a humorous twist.  I frequently have a color concept or a theme that I am trying to express, often taking hours to get it right.  I arrange the light so it falls on the objects with interesting shadows, lost and found edges.  Then the painting begins, trying to capture the subtle nuances of light and color in the still life.

I have been juried into several national juried competitions with the Oil Painters of America, the Salon International, National Oil and Acrylic Painters’ Society, and the American Women Artists National Competition. Paintings have been juried into the Associated Artists Annuals at the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Hoyt Regional, the MidAtlantic Juried shows, and the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art Biennial. I am represented by Sunset River Gallery in Calabash,NC and Georgetown Art Gallery in Georgetown, SC.