Art by Diane Knight

“Meet the Artist” talk

Diane Knight — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:45:09 +0000

It’s been a busy month! On January 12th, I was the guest speaker for the “Meet the Artist” talk at Cafelix. They ran out of chairs, with about 50 people attending. After the talk, Cafelix had the opening for a photography show, including work by my husband, Vic Kirby, along with Laurie Bauer and Barbara Holman.

During my talk

Relaxing with the audience afterwards!

Solo Show at Caffe Todos Santos

Diane Knight — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:51:13 +0000

I currently have a solo show at Caffe Todos Santos in downtown Todos Santos. The show runs till the end of January. The opening, on January 5th, was an amazing social event. Superb food and wine, compliments of Angelo and Magda, flowed all evening. And there was great live music by an impromptu group, including Alberto Poli. Much dancing ensued.

I’d like to thank Angelo and Magda for putting on such an amazing event for me!

If you haven’t seen the show (and it was hard to get to some of the paintings that night due to the crowd of people), do drop in!

The group

It was a busy night!

A wonderful spread of food!

Caffe Todos Santos

Street Vendor

Diane Knight — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:18:14 +0000

This painting was inspired by a photo taken by my very talented husband, Vic. The woman, who I think is absolutely beautiful, just happened to be looking over her shoulder against this striking old wall in Antigua, Guatemala. So with my new love of painting people and my old love of stone walls made this a “must be painted” image. I had so much fun painting this. I hope it shows.

Street Vendor

Baja Sky

Diane Knight — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:15:06 +0000

I took a workshop on Alla Prima painting this past summer. Alla Prima is usually done using oil paints but this particular instructor had mastered the technique using acrylic paint. Right up my alley, as I’m allergic to oil paints. I chose this particular landscape because of the sky. The vibrant, colourful Baja sky! And to think, I get to enjoy this view for a good part of the winter months.

Acrylic 14 x 11

Art in Bloom – Sunday, July 24th, 2011

Diane Knight — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:44:27 +0000

On the first real summer day we’ve had this year, I welcomed almost 100 people to see my new studio space and my latest paintings. I have been very fortunate to be able to use a loft studio space that a photographer friend of mine has replaced with a spacious, bright airy new studio. Having a studio separate from my home but only 8 minutes away has added the discipline of working that I so missed. The result of these past 2 ½ months were 7 paintings of both local harbour scenes and our life in Mexico. My paintings were scattered around the garden as well as in the studio, which has about the best view one could ask for. The big day drew people from the Horticultural Society who took in the gorgeous gardens in this ocean front property, people from the local camera club who came to photograph everything their eye could take in, and art admirers who just enjoyed the whole ambiance.

Visitors in the studio

Another set of visitors

The view from the studio - inspiring!

Hanging out with my Brother

Diane Knight — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:36:00 +0000

Another image that just had to be painted. I’m finding more and more that certain images appear to just jump out and say “Paint Me”. I love it when that happens! These two young boys looked to me like they were sharing a secret. The young one had such a mischievous look on his face and the older one appeared to be whispering something to him. I wonder if they had managed to get out of doing some work helping to unload the truck or maybe they were planning to play a trick on someone. Guess I’ll never know.

Hanging out with my Brother

Fresh Catch

Diane Knight — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:33:49 +0000

Punto Lobos is the big fishing beach in Todos Santos. The local women, often with children in tow, wait for the pangas to return in the early afternoon. Often the fishermen will sell their catch from their panga, or fishing boat. This sale is probably to a gringo as the locals are not as fussy about getting the fish filleted. The freshest fish I have ever eaten.

Fresh Catch

Surrounded by Nature

Diane Knight — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:32:13 +0000

Can you imagine living here?? We took a steam boat ride from Port Alberni to Bamfield on Vancouver Island and after we made our stops to deliver ice to the floating gas station and mail to the floating post office, we dropped off propane to this picturesque floating home. I loved the colour combination of the house with its metal roof surrounded by water, trees and the sound of nature. It was one of those images that just had to be painted.

Surrounded by Nature

El Palmero

Diane Knight — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:06:24 +0000

This brave fellow is a neighbour of ours. He built our palapa roof over our casita a number of years ago. When we needed someone to trim the dead palm fronds from the tall palm trees, here comes Domingo. So that’s where he gets all the palm fronds to build the palapa roofs from. Just a little aside regarding his name – when we contracted with him to build our roof, I asked him what his name was. Now I admit that my Spanish is not great, but I do know how to ask someone their name. So when he responded by saying “Domingo” I told him it was alright if he wanted to start work on Sunday but I still wanted to know his name. I’m not sure but I think maybe he was born on a Sunday. Being a palmero is not for the faint of heart. Qualifications include not being afraid of heights (some of these palm trees are 3 stories high) and not having a fear of large creepy crawly insects who live in the dead palm fronds. The yellow shirt is a bit of a uniform. The colour and thickness discourages bugs. I think I’d be decked out in something that resembled haz-mat attire, in heavy yellow cotton of course. Domingo is a good friend and this image just had to be painted.

El Palmero

Escaramuza Rider

Diane Knight — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:02:50 +0000

This young women is part of an escaramuza team of eight riders, mounted on charro style sidesaddles who perform a string of complicated geometric movements at a full gallop. They visited our small town of Todos Santos last year wearing the traditional full-skirted Adelita style dresses and this gorgeous wide-brimmed sombrero, the customary charro head gear. Reminded me of a cross between the cowgirls who perform in the Calgary Stampede and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police musical ride. Just a bit prettier!!

Escaramuza Rider