The GLEAN artist residency has been tremendous! It has kept me very busy!! It is a five month long local residency here in Portland, Oregon. I am one of five artists who has been visiting the dump (Metro Transfer Station out on NW 61st Ave. in Portland) regularly since November. I love my cohort: Epiphany Couch, Mai Ide, Chris Larson, and Marsha Mack. Special thanks to our fearless leader Leslie Vigeant!

Come check-out what we made. 90 – 100% of all materials were found at the dump! The folks at Hazardous Waste have been awesome saving us glues, paints, and all kinds of stuff. My new favorite is Mod Podge.

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 17, 2025 5-8 PM at 322 NW 8th Ave., Portland (pop-up gallery space)

The show runs April 17 – May 25, 2025.

Gallery Hours Saturday & Sunday 12:00 – 5:00 pm, and by appointment. To schedule an appointment, please email leslie@gleanportland.com

If you want to see the show with me you can reach out and we could possibly look together.

First I spent many hours at the dump. Sifting through the metal area or by happen stance catching some gems that had been discarded before the bulldozer came to crush everything to make room for more discards. I raided the copper bin regularly. Why I chose to take something home wasn’t always clear – you have to trust the process and put in the time. I wasn’t sure it made sense to continue my interest of wasps for this residency but the things that caught my eye looked like wasp abdomens. Spending time witnessing the amount of resources, memories, materials, packaging, plastic… we throw out as a society is exhausting. Black plastic garbage bags filled with peoples belongs end up there against their will too.

When I get home, I wash everything, take things apart, experiment and accumulate so I can draw from it. I was definitely out of my comfort zone dealing with materials I had little experience with, such as metal.

I am posting some process photos.

I stripped the plastic coating away from electrical copper wire – darkened the copper using liver of sulfur – twisted the wire into wasp wing shapes and dipped them in Mod Podge and hung them up to dry between each coat.

Another process I have been enjoying is trying different patinas to alter the copper. Here are some parts of my cuckoo wasp. Come see the finished piece.

I am very excited to have three new pieces included in the group show Intertwined at

Soliloquy Fine Arts located in Portland, OR at 2232 SE Clinton Street, Suite B, (back of building). Poet Caroline Goodwin wrote a poem titled FLAX inspired by my work.

opening First Friday

April 4, 2025 6-8 p.m.

join us for an evening celebrating word & image!

intertwined is a collaboration between 37 visual artists and 27 poets, featuring poems composed in response to artwork in a tribute to April’s National Poetry Month

NEW THIS YEAR the garage annex will showcase two video installations reflecting the intertwining of art and poetry

gallery hours Thurs. + Fri. afternoons 2-5 p.m. April 10 – May 16

additional readings from 6-7:30 p.m. Thurs. April 17, First Fri. May 2 + Thurs. May 15

come to a tea party with two creative kindred spirits, artist Myra Clark & poet Joy Manesiotis Fri. May 9 from 4-5 p.m, light refreshments served, r.s.v.p. to hello.soliloquypdx@gmail.com

poetry reading details published the week of the reading here and on IG @soliloquyfinearts

photo credit: Mario Gallucci

Inflated, Exposing the Inside, pomelo and linen thread, 6.5” x 5.5” x 5.5”, 2024

photo credit: Mario Gallucci

Thick Skin, Exposing the Inside, pomelo and linen thread, 4.5” x 4” x 4”, 2024

photo credit: Mario Gallucci

Corazon, Exposing the Inside, pomegranate and linen thread, 3” x 3” x 3”, 2024

I  have two images included in Borderline’s latest publication COMMON GROUND issue 03 curated by Kim Kuhn and Alyson Bowen. The book is a feast in visual intrigue!! A landscape mono print made during my PLAYA residency and and an  inverted pomegranate made it in. Thank you for my inclusion!

photo credit: Mario Gallucci

Summer Lake, the Paisley Caves, mono print, 29” x 18”, 2024

photo credit: Mario Gallucci

Exposing the Inside, large pomegranate, 2024

I had wanted to get my art newsletter out in time to encourage people in the Portland metro area to check out the group exhibition ALERT & ATTUNED: Attending to Our Climate Emergency at Chemeketa College in Salem, OR. However, I didn’t make it -the show closed on March 14. Laura Mack did a great job organizing this thought provoking exhibition. The other three curators were Dana Suzanne Dirker, Tereza Swanda, and Amey Mathews. Check out the great website that shows each artist and many installation shots. Hopefully the show will travel to Boston.

This unique exhibition brings together recent works by artists who have been collaborating for years under the mentorship of renowned art duo Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, also known as rosenclaire. The exhibition addresses the urgent need for environmental consciousness and action. The show reflects on the interconnected survival of our planet and its inhabitants. Some works confront the viewer with the stark realities of the climate emergency, while others offer pathways toward healing and encourage a shift in perspective as a way forward. The title, Alert & Attuned, embodies this dual approach of awareness and active engagement.

Gretchen Schuette Art Gallery

Chemeketa Community College

February 18 through March 14

EMERGENCE MAGAZINE

I learned about this amazing publication from my friend Wendy Given a year and a half ago. They produce amazing podcasts, publications, retreats, workshops, documentary films, and much much more. An incredible inspirational resource.

I am excited to go to their Whidbey Institute retreat, The Song of The Seasons in May.

Check them out here

photo credit: Mario Gallucci

My bats were part of two different juried shows.

Celestial Creatures: A Celebration of Wings and Feathers at the Giustina Gallery in Corvallis, Oregon November 1, 2024 – January 8, 2025

and

Crocker-Kingsley 2025 at Blue Line Arts Gallery in Roseville, California. This exhibit was juried by Grace Kook-Anderson (The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Northwest Art at the Portland Art Museum)

My Bat Cauldron won 5th place!!

I am very distraught

how do we organize and fight back

everything is at stake

I feel incredible angst and stress from an administration that is ruthless and careless.

love must prevail

channeling courage and strength,

diane