Diana Tarter

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I live in an old fixer-upper which I have converted into a studio in Venice Beach California where I've been for 23 years. My art is often inspired by looking out of my windows. The Venice boardwalk is also enjoyable, as is walking on the sand at the beach seeing and hearing the sounds of the waves.

I guess, I am working on being in touch with all my senses: to be more real and spontaneous -to make a bridge between the inside feelings and the outside world.

As children, we seem to be in touch with our senses-sights, sounds, touch- but, as we mature, labels and thoughts seem to take over. We lose an appreciation of the textures, colors, shapes, sounds, etc. around us getting distracted with more superficial things--often becoming overwhelmed and disconnected.

Most of my life, I have lived in Los Angeles, but my early childhood was in The East Coast. My childhood was full of trauma and emotional pain, but art helped me cope with the frustrations. Luckily, my family did encourage cultural pursuits, a love of nature, and an interest in political and social issues.

Being creative played an extremely important part in my life. I still enjoy experimenting with different materials and exploring new techniques. I focused on printmaking like silkscreen, earlier on. I also, did alot of work with mosaics, mosaic topped wooden tables, plaster, and other media. Lately, I have been doing more painting. I studied here in California and abroad and have exhibited in Los Angeles, Venice and Santa Monica. And, I did some teaching in colleges, Jr and Senior High school and with children.

"The Creative Art Workshop", I developed many years ago to achieve a dream I had to share my enjoyment of self expression and experimentation with others.

I believe that just as nature tends to be beautiful, if we allow our natural instincts to express itself, we all can create inspirational works of art--- release bottled up tensions and feel the tremendous joy of being creative.

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