I'd like to introduce you to another artist whom I admire, the lovely and talented Diana Trout.
Lyric - Have you always known you wanted to be an artist? How did you come to where you are now in your artistic development.
Diana - Oh boy, this will be a long answer.
In a word, no. Apparently, I loved art as a child but my parents were pretty busy since there were five of us kids and my mom was sick. I remember being given a paint by number set. I loved the paint and hated the numbers. I wound up doing my own thing which led my mother to believe I wasn’t much of an artist. I spent a lot of time in our small town craft shop and used to spend all of my allowance there.
We didn’t have any art in school (mid to late 60’s, catholic school) but we did have plenty of music - all that choir practice! I love music, so decided that was my calling; all through high school and collage, I played guitar and sang in coffee houses. It was a good part-time job!
D - And so it went. I went to several different commuter colleges, bouncing from one major to another and paying for it myself. Eventually, something snapped in my head and I went to art school and took a few classes. After building a portfolio, I applied to Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Everything I did there was magical and I immersed myself completely in painting and drawing the figure. That was it: 35 years later, I’m still sticking with it.
L - I agree - PLAY takes practice. It’s good to think through your work but it is so helpful to take the time to be free.
L - We have so much in common! Large family, started out and paid our own way through college as musicians. You were lucky to find art early… it took me a while. It's never too late right?
L - Stranded on a Desert Island - what's in your art shoebox?
D - My watercolors, definitely and embroidery/sewing kit. I could make my own paper and find fibers there to stitch on. There would probably be berries for ink and sticks to draw with and I could make charcoal sticks easily enough. Better have some matches to start that fire, though. How long would I be there, exactly?
L - Hey we should hang out there together. I could teach you how to make a flint and steel fire and set a game trap for food. Let’s keep it easy though and just spend a few wonderfully isolated days with our art and plenty of food before the yacht comes to pick us up.
L - Your journals have an intriguing balance of rawness and beauty. I have trouble getting too tight in my work. Any hints for staying loose?
D - Oh yes, that is difficult! Practice is the solution, though. It’s a funny thing that adults need to practice re-learning how to play but we really do! Thank you for noticing the “raw/elegance” aesthetic, Lyric. It really is something that I’ve consciously nurtured for a long time.
I hope you've enjoyed meeting Diana as much as I've enjoyed getting to know her. Diana's blog is titled Hububbery. Go visit her there and say hello.
You've got to love a woman who uses the word Hububbery.
