I am so excited that I get to WELCOME Dion Dior as our December Artist. She has been a long time fan of our Luminarte products and her artwork conveys it. I love her composition and the style of her flowers....simply gorgeous! May I say, it is an honor to have so many talented artists using our products and sharing their talents on the Luminarte Blog. Dion has many other talents but she has a natural gift when it comes to her paintings. They seem to speak to the viewers with movement, beauty, and elegance. Enjoy!
My name is Dion, I am author and editor of the art blog “Dion Dior & More”, and I am thrilled to be a part of this wonderful Luminarte team. It’s a dream come true for me.
My mother says I was born with a paintbrush in hand, and when I look back at my life, that was probably true. I don’t remember much of the detail of my early childhood, but I do remember that art was very much a part of it. I was born and raised by the sea in Australia where the treasures to be found in a rock pool were more valuable than the crown jewels. I grew up alongside three very talented and vivacious siblings, each with their own unique potential. Our house was filled with energy, laughter, and arguments over the bathroom.
I graduated from college and spent several jam-packed decades working and travelling the world as a woman alone, exploring, sketching and writing about my life-changing experiences. I met my husband on the roof of the world, trekking to Mt Everest Base Camp, two years later our daughter was born, and four years after that our son arrived, 16 weeks premature. Within the blink of an eye, our rather predictable and simple life was promptly turned upside down. After five months in the NICU, 2 years on oxygen and a medical regime that would give you whiplash, he is now thriving. He’s taught me that life is rarely what you expect, and never what you plan.
Today I live far from my homeland down-under, in rural Iowa, where my attempts at growing a veggie garden have been disastrous. I am a mother; artist; writer; and teacher (not necessarily in that order) and I can tell you that that paintbrush is still in my hand. Throughout my life I have been driven by my desire to create and as the years have passed, art has remained my anchor.
I love color and I particularly love sparkle and shimmer. I often find that a piece is not finished until it pops off the page with energy and illumination, and I've found some amazing products from LuminArte that feed this passion. I draw most of my inspiration from nature and will use her many faces to fuel my work. My journals and sketchbooks are filled with luscious, shimmering pages; they are treasured expressions of my endless adventures. I hope you will join me on some of these adventures as we swim in a silky, twinkling ocean of shimmer.
xx Dion
You actually couldn't hope for a better ambassador for your products than Dion, I love the beautiful simplicity of her work, it just pops....WELL DESERVED Artist of the month xxx
Posted by: Dawn Gold | 12/14/2011 at 11:03 AM
It's great to see Dion as your Artist of the Month. Her work is full of life and spark and I have my suspicions that this is also a perfect description of her personality.
Posted by: Ruca Cao | 12/14/2011 at 12:53 PM
This work is amazing here, and knowing the product fairly well I can imagine how luminous these pieces are in real life. And your story is like mine, very textured! Lovely to read and learn about you and your work, and I look forward to more.
Posted by: Jill K. Berry | 12/14/2011 at 01:02 PM
I really love her colorful, sparkly and happy work. it wonderful for her to be artist of the month here.
It was interesting to read her life story too.
Posted by: Holly McLean | 12/14/2011 at 03:22 PM
BEAUTIFUL work! Congratulations on being picked "artist of the month"!
Posted by: Laurie Hunt | 12/15/2011 at 06:57 AM
Dion;
It was lovely reading your story and as you know I always love your work. I am really looking forward to your upcoming classes in 2012!
Merry Christmas
Posted by: Kelly | 12/15/2011 at 11:14 AM