Outside my studio french doors on the deck. Resting after working on my terraced on-going 'sculpture'. Strange that I have found and landscaped with rocks at every home I have lived in. I follow natures flow and find the beautiful views. Love the ravens flying overhead, the whoosh of the wings and their chatter, the deer and wildlife peering at me through the fence in back.
My 13th Art Studio. My first one, at 13, was in a walk-in closet at the family farm. I put in shelves and dragged in a light with the cord under the door. My first drawing was from the book 'Heidi'. About a girl moving to the Alps. And now here I am on my 'mountain top' in Silver City, NM.
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Art Statement My art, like life, has many twists and turns and therefore reflects the exploration of different mediums and landscapes. They often depict a personal or a universal theme and have a direct correlation to my written journals. I am fascinated and curious by the abundant materials available to artists and have explored oil, acrylic, ceramics, woodcarving, handmade papier-mâché and beeswax. Over the years my work has gravitated toward 3D and often incorporates several of these mediums to help translate an intriguing story. I love the agonizing but rewarding process that happens when building a structure from the ‘ground up’ to completion. It keeps me on a daily studio schedule whenever possible. I bend toward the unexpected and my work can carry me in many different directions depending on mood and daily life. The process involved in my latest series of sculptures, When Women Were Birds, includes cultural myths of women growing wings and the ravens sitting on the shoulder whispering the ancient stories. With each process new areas of interest evolve and will always lead to the next body of work. BIO Diane Kleiss was born in an Iowa Heartland farming community. A BFA in painting, a K-12 teaching degree and a minor in art history were acquired at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Eight inspiring summers were spent taking weeklong workshops at the Grand Marias Art Colony in northern Minnesota. She taught art in public schools and art centers in Minnesota and Arizona. Moving in 1994 to Tucson, Arizona, she directed more attention to her studio and building a body of work which led to acceptance in exhibits around the US. In 2008 she turned to painting and sculpting with beeswax, an ancient encaustic medium. This medium opened the door to Encaustic national and international exhibits and meeting many artists who had fallen in love with the melted wax. In 2013 she moved to an art based community in Silver City, New Mexico, again serving on committees to help promote the area artists. In February 2020 she received the Edwina Milner Women in the Arts Award and launched a life time of work in a retrospective at WNMU Francis McCray Gallery of Contemporary Art. She has exhibited her work in several galleries and solo exhibits around the country and has been featured in Art Magazines, books and articles and served on several art boards. A member of: The Museum of Encaustic Art in Santa Fe, NM www.moeart.org and its affiliate The Encaustic Art Institute in Cerrillos NM eainm.com The International Encaustic Artists international-encaustic-artists.org/ Silver City Art Association, Silver City NM www.silvercityart.com |
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