Diane Binder

Diane was a young person of ten, when she discovered she could draw likenesses of people, so her parents bought her a Jon Nagy learn to draw kit which set her on a path of fine art. From a summer of classes at Cranbrook Institute of Art in Michigan as well as her High School art classes, she received fundamentals and encouragement and was commissioned to draw and paint portraits while still in 11th and 12th grades. Briefly she attended art classes at Michigan State University; but went on to get her Bachelor’s of Science in Human Nutrition.

As time passed, her art manifested (while being a ski bum in Steamboat Springs, Colorado} in food presentation such as restaurant cooking, catering. Briefly she was hired to be an artist to design and install stained glass overlay windows. One of her windows was an Italian restaurant in Louisville, Colorado. It may still be there today.

In 2001, she and her husband bought a sailboat (Batwing, a junk rigged schooner) and sailed from Canada to Central and South America. Their numerous adventures led them to explore many Latin cultures, which still influence her art today.

Eventually settling in Taos, they continued to sail winters in Mexico and spend 7 months in Taos.

Currently boat-less, they camp for the winter in a wonderful community called Mulege in Baja California. It was there in Baja where she was introduced to the medium of watercolor; it became her favorite. She has belonged to several watercolor societies, one in Mulege and two in New Mexico.

In Taos she paints with The Taos Plein Air Painters and shows her paintings in their yearly shows. She has shown her paintings with New Mexico Watercolor Society, Taos Watercolor Society, as well as the Taos Artist Collective and sometimes The Atelier where she attends Wednesday’s life drawing. 

Her art in this show is representative of the many places where she enjoys spending her time.