Diane Wile-Brumm

Exhibition 2010 — Peer Gallery

Locavore — Recent paintings & watercolours

Locavore: one who eats only locally grown or raised food. This body of new work by Diane Wile–Brumm, entitled ‘Locavore’, showcases her search for local food. A series of colourful water colour paintings based on the marketplaces and gardens she has frequented during the past year, this exhibition celebrates the wisdom of keeping food dollars within the community. Good for your health, your neighbours, and the environment.

Dates: April 30 - May 13
Hours for exhibit: Daily, noon - 4:00
Opening: Saturday, May 1, 2:00 – 5:00
Artist's talk: Sunday, May 9, 3:00

Artist's Statement

My paintings are realistic and accessible. It always pleases me when the work evokes a personal response or memory in a viewer, but it is the application of the paint itself, not representation that keeps me painting. Each piece begins with a fairly detailed drawing, but in applying the pigment I allow it to lead me. Watercolour, which is famously unpredictable and 'bossy', lends itself well to this approach, continues to fascinate me, and remains my usual medium. I also work with acrylics and in some pieces explore combinations of water-based media. (Click to view Diane's Gallery).

With an emphasis on figure work and still life, my subject matter usually reflects whatever is prominent in my thinking at the time. Certain themes recur: nature, literature, social history, that which links us ˆ to the past, to each other, to the planet. My current series, entitled 'Locavore', is based on my commitment to local food sources as a way of nurturing community and protecting the environment.

I am primarily a studio painter, using a variety of photographs as reference material, though I work en plein air or from life whenever I can.

Biography

Diane Wile-Brumm was born in Halifax and raised in Ancaster, Ontario. She earned a BA from Waterloo Lutheran University then moved back to Nova Scotia where she has lived ever since. Adding a BEd from Dalhousie and an MA from St. Mary's University she enjoyed a long career as a school teacher, and a stint as a school administrator in HRM. To assuage her need for art she took a year's Leave of Absence and studied at NSCAD, subsequently completing a series of night and summer courses with artists including Nancy Edell, Nancy Stevens, Alice Reed, Jean Hancock, Kay Stanfield, Brian Atyeo and Charles Reid. In 2000 she began to exhibit her work, which can now be found in private collections across North America.

In 2006 Diane and her husband, Lyon Brumm, moved to Lunenburg County where her family roots on both sides go back to the 1700's. She considers herself very fortunate to have this second incarnation, again working at something she loves, dividing her time between painting and writing in her studio on the shore of Blysteiner Lake.

Solo Exhibitions
2010 Locavore, Peer Gallery, Lunenburg, NS, opening May 1
2008 From Here, Craig Gallery, Dartmouth, NS (with Shannon Bell and Norene Smiley)
2005 Double Talk, Craig Gallery, Dartmouth, NS (with Norene Smiley)
2005 Recent Paintings, Woodlawn Library, Dartmouth, NS, with Norene Smiley
2003 Recent Paintings, Cole Harbour Library, Dartmouth, NS

Selected Juried Exhibitions
2008 The Art of the Garden, MOXIE, Bridgewater, NS
2006 Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour: Associates' Juried Show, NS Archives, Halifax, NS 2006 Contemporary Art Society of Nova Scotia: Juried Show, NS Archives, Halifax, NS
2005 Cityscapes, Art Sales and Rental Gallery, Halifax, NS

Selected Group Exhibitions
2010 Nurturing Nature, Moorings Gallery, Mahone Bay, NS (VANS Regional Show)
2008 VANS Regional Group Exhibition, Peer Gallery, Lunenburg, NS

Twice yearly shows with DVAS (Dartmouth Visual Artists Society) 2000-2006

Galleries
MacDonald House Gallery, Lawrencetown Beach (2001 -2006)
Art Sales and Rental Society Gallery, Halifax, NS
Peer Gallery, Lunenburg, NS

Arts Affiliations
Visual Arts Nova Scotia
CARFAC
Annapolis Royal Community Arts Council
Mahone Bay Access Art
LaHave Portrait Group
Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

Contact
Email Diane

Diane's Website
At home: By the Garden Studio (902) 530-5597