DIANNEBRITTEN.ART
Hello!
MY NAME IS DIANNE
Claude Monet once said ‘I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers’. I owe it to petals.
While holidaying in country Victoria as a child, I would watch my grandmother paint the most beautiful folk art roses. Stroke after stroke, I watched as each petal was placed with a steady, precise hand.
I literally copied every petal in the book — left and right curves, straight, long and short. The first flower I mastered was a daisy.
My greatest source of inspiration is nature. It's something which developed as a child, then later during travels across Australia and abroad.
I grew up on a farm west of Noosa in Queensland, Australia. I've returned to raise my family here, living on the coast and in the city of Brisbane. I have also lived in Sydney and London, where I’ve carved out a career in media and communications — first as a photojournalist and now in communications.
Painting is, alas, my first and forever calling. I am self-taught and work mainly with oils and acrylics. I often use striking colours and strokes, honouring the authenticity of the brush — something I appreciated more and more in the digital age.
I first showed as a high school student, exhibiting during a Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Art Exhibition in 1997 and winning a Sunshine Coast Outstanding Art Award.
A decade later I exhibited at Carrington’s art gallery in Noosa and produced the collection Art in Season.
Fast forward another decade to late 2018 and I contracted a virus, thus beginning a physical and mental struggle that would see me return to the brushes again. Some call it therapy, others a compulsion. I call it a gift — a gift I am eternally grateful for.
Afternoon Pickup, a 2019 oil I donated to raise funds for my kids’ school, was inspired by chirping birds at pick-up time. It reminds us of the beauty that is all around; you just have to tune in. The few blocks to school continue to serve up inspiration and moments of gratitude for the little things in life.
From painting petals to Afternoon Pickup, I thank my friends and family for their unwavering support and words of encouragement throughout my enduring artistic and healing journey.