Happy Happy Happy Exhibit Went Well

One Day Left to View Contemporary Art Exhibit “Significant Signage”

Well folks, the First Friday opening of my exhibit Significant Signage went very well. I was happy with the turn out and also am happy to say so many of my good friends showed up to support me. Here I am pictured with the President of the Board of Directors of 621 Gallery, Josh Johnson, who was on hand to congratulate me.

I am including photographs from that night so you folks, my blog readers, can get a taste of the festivities that night. Although you may notice the crowds were not too thick, this is because Railroad Square is located between Florida State University and Florida A&M University and the students are gone for summer break and they usually frequent the galleries in the square. BUT there was a steady flow of folks and even interest in purchasing pieces. Check out the pictures!

My final thoughts to you today are that I invite you to view my first exhibit at a regional show in the Nan Boynton section of 621 Gallery on the LAST DAY it is open to the public: Saturday, July 29th from 12 pm noon to 3 pm. I will be there for the final day. I am sad to see it come down…but so honored to have been included with the talented local, national and international artists that have shown at 621 in Tallahassee, Florida. Thanks to Josh and Gabrielle!

I’m still very busy folks so stay tuned and stay safe and I’ll keep you posted on my next exhibit which comes up in September. Bye!!!

Yes, Another Custom Pet Portrait!

Here it is folks, almost fall, and I’m very, very busy! The virus is “back” but things still move forward. Things started opening up, and I got busy: doing pet portraits, cityscapes and, as you saw in my last post, even exhibiting at new locations! In the photo above I am hard at work put in the details on my last custom pet portrait for one of my favorite and best collectors. It is a rendition of her late, beloved dog, Willow. The painting is entitled “Willow the Mastiff” is 12″x12″ and acrylic. Below is the final product.

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Of course, anyone of you (or even your friends!) who would like a pet portrait, I am happy to oblige. They make great gifts… In the meantime, I am getting ready for more exhibits. I will be showing at Westminster Oaks retirement home in Tallahassee with a solo show entitled “Diane Dyal Follows the Painted Path” during October, November and December. And, I am happy to say, I will also be back at Feeling Art Collective in the month of December. This venue is in Railroad Square Art Park and I am hoping…hoping…for a good crowd for the holidays (yes, folks, gotta prepare for the holidays now!). So, stay healthy and safe and support your local artists wherever you live!

Fab First Friday!

Had a great time last Friday at Railroad Square Art Park in Tallahassee. As I announced last month, I am exhibiting my acrylic paintings at TWO galleries in Railroad Square for the month of August. People were being careful…social distancing…because of the “reoccurrence” of this stupid virus. Just FYI, in Tallahassee, the first Friday of each month is used as a time to celebrate and socialize with all the art galleries open at night as opposed to just their daytime hours. This is called “First Friday” and it’s great fun in Railroad Square.

I am proud to say I participated in the 621 Gallery Members Show with two pieces selected for this excellent, diverse exhibit. I am posing in the photos below, with Art Zone (a cityscape of Gadsden Arts building) and Destination Tally No. 2 (the iconic Greyhound Station). Also shown are a couple of “art friends” pieces: Anna McBride (green abstract with Sophia) and Ann Kozeliski (Portrait of a Woman). Always fortunate to be a part of the art scene in town.

And I am also very pleased to be included at Feeling Art Collective, curated by Anna who posed with me here with my framed cityscape studies of local images. In addition to all this self-promotion, I am including some interesting shots I took as I meandered around the square when not posing with paintings! Hopefully you can see by my iPhone photography, the night was quite festive with creativity flowing!!!

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If you’re interested in coming to Railroad Square Art Park to view my art, and the art by other great local artists, here’s the necessary info below. And again, stay safe but have fun!

Feeling Art
694 Industrial Drive
Tallahassee
Thurs. – Fri. 2:00 – 6:00 pm
Sat. – Sun. 12 noon – 6:00 pm
(times are approximate)

621 Gallery
621 Industrial Drive
Tallahassee
Thurs. – Sun. 1:00 – 5:00 pm

Zoomin’ in the New Year

First of all Happy New Year and may it be much, much better than last year. But one thing’s for sure, it’s starting out the same and I certainly do believe that “Zoom” is the most popular program/app out there! For those of you that don’t know, Zoom allows meetings on the computer with multiple users to facilitate classes, conferences, school functions, work meetings or just plain fun dance parties. The computer screen shows the host as well as the participants and as applicable drawings/charts for meetings.

Anyway, in my case, I participated in many classes last year and have also started again with more this year. One was “Photographing Artwork,” another was “The Graphite Pencil” and yet another was “An Interview with the Exhibiting Photographer,” and my favorite a class called “The Sketchbook.” What I’m highlighting here today is my landscape collage that I did with the Florida State University’s Museum of Fine Arts and their promotions director Annie Booth. She had two different zoom meetings last year that you could participate in where you made your own collage while you watched a corresponding slide show of the exhibit currently at the museum while myself and the others showed our progress on our collages via zoom, all in the comfort of our own homes.

My collage above is constructed of torn magazine pages and is entitled “Tallahassee at Dawn.” It is an inspirational piece I made after moving to the city. Then I adopted a new routine in the early morning of walking in a local park and would notice the Moon and Venus in the orange-colored eastern sky overhead. It has a symbolic city representing Tally on the right and also illustrated on the left is the Apalachicola State Forest as well as the Gulf of Mexico, complete with sharks!

This piece has been entered into a competition of all paper products/projects by the Annmarie Sculpture Gardens and Arts Center in Maryland, a Smithsonian Affiliate. I will keep you posted on whether I get my collage into the exhibit and then have to ship it away! And speaking of keeping you posted: I have been and am currently working on pet portraits. (Partially last year for Christmas, partially late Christmas presents and a Valentine’s gift, too…) My next post will focus on these pet portraits that I hope you enjoy them as much as the recipients did! Stay safe.

The Holidays are Here!

Art and Christmas in Havana, Florida

Thanksgiving is almost here and everyone knows what that means: not only lots of good food, but the beginning of Christmas. This year is the start of something new to me: participating in the Havana, Florida holiday season. Shown above are two large scale (about the size of volleyballs) Christmas tree ornaments I created for the town tree in this small town of Havana, just north of Tallahassee, where I live. The ornaments are decorated with my two favorites: Oliver (left) and Stripedie (right) since I was given free rein as to the subject matter I chose to paint on these large ornaments. They are going to be sold to benefit the town as well as a portion going to the artist. The following link will bring you to the page where you can purchase either of the ornaments online. Havana Main Street Ornaments

Another exciting element of the Havana Holiday season are the Pop-up Exhibits at Paint Dog Gallery on 307 North Main Street, right in the heart of town. I already exhibited in an event for one day on Saturday, November 14, 2020 and am including a photo of my display in this beautiful local gallery showing my paintings, minis and greeting cards that I had for sale.

I am happy to announce I sold the painting of the guitar to a happy patron who wanted it for her son’s music room as a Christmas present. Another Pop-up Exhibit is coming up on Saturday, December 12th from 10 am to 5 pm and I hope to have new stock as well as the old stand-bys if you are a local and interested in coming to this quaint North Florida town to check it out. There will be many local artists represented there. We will practice social distancing, so come join us. Stay safe and hope to see you next month!

For Sale! My Quarter Moon Postcards

Here they are folks! As I have blogged about before, I have created Quarter Moon Imports postcards from a painting I did of this great little shop on Lake Ella in Tallahassee, Florida. I encourage you locals to get out and check out this eclectic gift shop and hopefully buy some postcards and even some of my hand-made greeting cards. And for all of you readers and art lovers, I hope you enjoy the art. I am including a few photos of the postcards and the outside of the shop, too. I am happy to say this is the first time one of my paintings has been chosen to represent a business and am very proud!

News About Greenpoint Gallery Contest

Hey blog readers! Above is one of the paintings I submitted to Greenpoint Gallery’s national, online exhibit along with four other Tallahassee-themed works. For those of you who read my last post, this is a follow-up, and for those of you just finding out about me and Greenpoint, I am providing more information.

The online exhibit I am now participating in at Greenpoint Gallery in Brooklyn, New York is conducting a contest where you can vote and the winner gets $500 and a solo exhibit at the gallery when the virus is over. I now know you can vote as many times as you want! The votes cost one dollar each and the money goes to benefit the gallery in these difficult times.

So please vote for me, a Tallahassee artist hoping to exhibit in the “big city” once, twice, or many times! Here is the direct link below. Thanks in advance!

VOTE DIANE DYAL TO EXHIBIT IN GREENPOINT GALLERY

Please Vote and Support the Arts!

Well folks, I hope to (and maybe already have) hit the “big time.” I have just been accepted to an online exhibit at Greenpoint Gallery in New York and am very proud! This two-floor gallery in Brooklyn is in the trendy and very popular artist-colony area of Greenpoint, where the gallery gets its name. My Tallahassee-themed paintings were chosen along with the pieces of 81 other artists in this July exhibit. I am asking for all your support, please. I need you and your friends’ votes. There is a People’s Choice award of $500 and a solo exhibit in the gallery when the coronavirus is over. The votes cost one dollar each and the money goes to support the gallery in this time of crisis. The website is as follows http://www.thegreenpointgallery.com, but I am also including a direct link to the section where you can vote for me below. Thanks in advance!!!

VOTE DIANE DYAL GREENPOINT GALLERY

Artopia Will Go On…Online!

Here I am with mask on, painting in hand, at Big Bend Cares in Tallahassee donating for the annual Artopia fundraiser. This big charity event benefits HIV/AIDS and is one of the most popular events in town, usually held at the civic center. This year, Artopia will be held online because of the coronavirus. The virus will not stop the generous art community from donating or the great folks at Big Bend Cares from helping these folks in need. One of the people from Big Bend is Caitlin Steiner, shown above, accepting my donation called “Tally Station Study.” This is an acrylic piece on paper, framed, 18″x24″ with a very, very reasonable minimum bid of $5! (Valued at $150.)

Good friend and fellow artist, Ann Kozeliski, is shown here with her multiple donations of her signature style of Sumi-E paintings, which is Chinese ink painting. So many local artists have donated to this great cause. Another feature to not only promote the Artopia artists but to highlight Artopia is COCA’s contribution to the cause by posting something called “Behind the Scenes” a more in-depth look at the artists of Artopia.

I have included the link directly below for Behind the Scenes where I have been featured if you are interested in finding out a bit more. And then below that I have included the link for the Artopia online auction. You may bid in advance but the auction is Saturday, June 27, 2020 at 6 p.m. I highly encourage all you art lovers out there to take advantage of this opportunity to buy great art at very reasonable prices and to support an excellent cause. Thanks!

Behind the Scenes with COCA: Diane Dyal Paintings

Artopia Online Auction