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Back in the Woods
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2016/08 - August
Her hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, is growing. Trees are cut. Homes are built.
But painter Diane Kilgore Condon is putting the birds back in the woods.
“My builder husband saves good lumber scraps,” she says. “He throws them in a bin, which I go through and get wonderful woods like hemlock and chestnut to use for my painting surfaces.”
This fills a bigger need for Diane. As an art graduate from Bob Jones University, she feels a spiritual connection with the world through her painting.
“Everything is about redemption,” she says. “In my case, I redeem materials from a burn pile and paint on them. I feel I was created to see the world this way.”
A good day is when Diane gets up, goes to her studio, and ten bird paintings flow from her brush.
Don’t think she flings paint on a board and it’s done in minutes. Quite the opposite. She takes her time. When she has accumulated 100 or so paintings she boxes them up for gallery destinations. She might keep 20 percent of those for her own collection.
She says, “There is something magical about filling an entire wall with birds. It’s like having your own personal flock that you can re-group according to your mood. Each time you do you have a new installation.”
To her original artwork in a home creates a narrative.
“Hand-crafted work makes your house into a story of which you are the main character,” she says.
See Diane’s birds and larger animal paintings at Smitten’s Third Thursday, August 18, from 5:00 P.M. until, at 468 Main Street Highlands. Call (828) 342-9220 for more information or email [email protected]. Smitten is open seven days, Monday through Thursday, 11:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.; Friday and Saturday, 11:00 A.M. until; and Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 P.M.
To learn more about Diane’s work, visit Art Bomb Company on Facebook or email [email protected].
