Diane Veros is our June featured artist. Here is the story of her watercolor journey, in her own words...
"I moved to Florham Park, NJ about a year and a half ago after living in upstate NY for the previous 40 years. I went to Montclair State as a music major and taught in Montville, NJ for 5 years. I left teaching and pursued a Master’s degree in Public Administration, then worked at Universities as a Research Administrator for over 30 years. I retired in 2019. I was diagnosed with Amyloidosis in 2017, a rare disease that impacts my nerves and is progressive. While recovering from a stem cell transplant, I was home-bound, so decided to start painting. I had always dabbled, but not seriously. My feet and hands don’t work well, so sadly, I had to give up playing piano and guitar, but I needed a creative outlet. I tried colored pencils (too tedious), acrylics (too messy), and pastels (love them but I can’t deal with the dust getting everywhere.) So I returned to watercolor. I had a palette that was 35 years old with some dried up tube paint. It worked! During COVID, I painted almost every day and I have stacks and stacks of paintings. I learned a lot from watching You Tube videos and visiting artist websites. I joined CaFE, and I entered several paintings in an international show for Artists with disabilities at Bryn Mawr hospital in Pennsylvania and sold several paintings. I was hooked! The next year I won two awards, People’s Choice and Best Watercolor - there were over 400 artworks in the show and I was validated and “over the moon”. I paint mostly landscapes and florals and keep trying to get looser and larger.
The wheelchair is limiting, as I can’t stand up and it’s difficult to move a large sheet around. So I’ve resigned myself to a half sheet as my largest (I did purchase a block of Arches 18 x 24 a year ago, but have yet to use it.) I am gradually losing strength in my hands, and I don’t know what I’ll do without the ability to paint. Painting is my life saver.
I joined FineartAmerica as a place to post my paintings as it only costs 30$ per year for unlimited paintings."
