Featured Artist Diane Morgan

Bold and vibrant, artist Diane Morgan’s colorful floral paintings are larger than life. Learn more about her art by visiting her website.

 

 

I was going to be an interpreter at the UN so I started college majoring in French and Russian. I’d always drawn and painted as far back as I can remember, and a persistent little voice inside my head kept whispering that art was my love. When the whisper became a roar, I decided to switch to painting in my junior year. To apply to art school, I was asked to bring in a portfolio. I didn’t even know what a portfolio was. I took in five pencil drawings in a brown paper bag—I was accepted!  It was the best decision I’ve ever made.

 

 

Timid at first, I painted on a small scale. My professor told me to paint big and look up Georgia O’Keeffe. That really opened my eyes.

 

 

I began painting five-foot canvases of everything I could find—pears, lettuce, olives, bananas, fish—you name it. Can you imagine an entire five-foot square canvas filled with just lettuce leaves?

 

 

I didn’t have a camera so everything had to be painted directly from life. Painting from life seems more authentic; your imagination comes into play and you see more depth and color.

 

 

To pay for college, I worked as a waitress every summer and during school. My grades suffered a bit, but it resulted in my first real job. A regular customer said I was such a good waitress that he wanted me to work in his ad agency as soon as I graduated. It pays to work hard at whatever you’re doing, even if you don’t like it—someone may notice.

 

 

After a career in advertising and as Public Art Administrator for the City of Palm Springs, I am now fortunate to be able to paint full-time. I love painting large florals, and well, anything really.

 

 

I see a painting everywhere. I want to paint it all. Florals are my favorite, though, especially if a bee happens to come along. I paint bees to spread the word about the bee crisis. Without bees we lose a large percentage of the food we eat.

 

 

I found that a great way to improve my work was to help others improve theirs. Teaching makes you clarify your thinking and put your process into words. Plus, I meet the most interesting people—dancers, sculptors, nurses, brain surgeons, psychiatrists—even the prison warden for two of the Manson girls.

 

 

For four months I created a 6 x 8-inch painting a day, quickly resulting in 120 paintings. Amazing how much better you get when you paint a lot. Each painting took five to seven hours because I paint so much detail, but it was so worth the effort. I sold them all on eBay.

 

 

One of my most challenging projects was painting signal boxes for the City of Palm Desert. It was so hot and windy that the paint would practically dry before I got it on the surface. I thought; how am I going to do this?  Just put one foot in front of the other and keep moving. Each day I went home exhausted and covered in paint, but feeling exhilarated. We should always push ourselves to do more than we think possible; the outcome is so rewarding.

 

Artist Diane Morgan invites you to follow her on Instagram and Pinterest.

 

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