I am an artist, a retired teacher of art, and a native of rural Georgia. My home since the mid-70s is the northeast Georgia mountains where I live in a small cabin with my Schnauzer, Maggie. The most significant and fulfilling part of my life was the nearly thirty years with my life-partner and soul mate, Dr. Howard Hanson whose death in early 2010 has put me on a journey towards a new normal, a process on-going.
I don't remember not loving emersing myself in art whether drawing, painting, sculpting or taking photos. Neither do I remember not loving music: playing guitar, mandolin, my beloved hammered dulcimer or listening to others play. I suppose my favorite composer is Chopin, although I do love Mozart, especially when he's being naughty, and Beethoven, Bach, and Haydn. And I'll stop in my tracks to listen to the Mamas and Papas, The BeeGees, Joan Baez, James Taylor, Peter, Paul and Mary or Carol King.
Artists I admire most are Richard Schmid, Nita Engle, Michael Parkes, Robert Genn and oh yes, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and Andrew Wyeth. I don't care for trendy stuff or for most of what the modern culture raves about. Rather I prefer artists who ignore the current trends and follow their own inner directions.
I have no patience with those who neglect honing their skills and craftsmanship, who fail to question the mainstream's direction, or whose motive is fitting-in rather than expressing their own inner druthers. I'm a rebel by nature, always have been.
If I have an artist's statement (a recent tag our mainstream culture has deemed crucial to being professional), it is that we are each born unique and that uniqueness is what gives us individuality, that if we exchange that uniqueness for a mask of any kind, we will not fully realize our purpose on this earth, we will never become whole.
As to my work, I love to paint and I love drawing. That's it. I'm quite happy painting things in nature, most especially the abundance of life I find in these north Georgia mountains where my soul finds itself at home.
Howard and me in our home, 2007
Working on a watercolor in my studio
Vitae
Education:AA, Young Harris College
BA, English and Music, Newberry College
BFA, Painting and Drawing, University of Georgia
MFA, Painting, Goddard College
Professional Teaching Experience:
High School Teacher, Visual Arts and English
Teacher and Art Department Head, Georgia's Governor's Honors Program
Department Head and Associate Professor of Art, Piedmont College
Co-founder and Instructor, Dianne Mize Studio, later to become The Art Studio at Sautee Nacoochee Center
Professional Experience as Artist:
Selected works at InsideOut Sautee Gallery, Sautee-Nacoochee, GA
Numerous private and group shows
Conducted a number of workshops and seminars
Written and published tutorial and analytical articles.