Meet Diana Rice

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Diana Rice. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Diana, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

I’ve been creating art since I was a young child, mostly influenced by my father’s love for art as a watercolorist and my mother’s love for singing. Art was apart of my everyday life and became as natural as language itself, it was a way for me to communicate. Mostly, though, my confidence and self-esteem comes from the early positive reinforcements from my parents. They taught me that art can be anything, and there is no wrong way to create.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I graduated from the University of Akron Myers School of Art with a BFA in painting and drawing in 2023. Currently I have a studio located at The Summit Artspace in Akron, Ohio as a part of the emerging artist residency program.
My artistic practice involves many mediums, including oil paint, watercolor, graphite on paper, canvas, found fabric and objects. One of my favorite projects that I continue to develop are my paper quilts which consist of drawings and paintings on hand cut paper assembled with string and hung from wooden branches as an installation. These collections of small drawings form an expanded sketchbook in which you can track how I develop an idea from one sketch to another.
Going forward, I plan on continuing my artistic practice by participating in residencies as well as selling my work online and at art fairs.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Intention, non-judgement and discipline are among some of the biggest skills I had to learn in my artistic journey. Learning to approach my work with intention has helped me to develop a similar language throughout my work despite the variability in mediums. Even if you’re not a planner, I’m certainly not, at least having intention to create is somewhere to begin. Then, once you have that intention, allowing yourself a space of non-judgement in whatever you create is essential. Not everything you create will be a perfect, and that’s good. You need to know what doesn’t work to find out what does. Then, the trick is doing all this consistently, even when you don’t feel like it. Creativity is not just when you feel inspired, it’s also a skill that needs consistent practice to develop. However, same as everyone, I’m still working on this one, too.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

Since graduating one year ago I’ve been dealing with keeping connected to my art community and staying driven in a solitary practice. Community was a major part of my everyday artistic practice while I was in school. Now, outside of that built-in community, I have to seek out critique and advice. Finding the discipline in yourself is tough, and, like I said, something that I continue to implement and learn. However, the more I create in my new circumstances, the more consistent my artistic vision becomes. I’ve come to realize that sometimes you need to let the exterior voices go so you can create something coming from your own.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Dianarice.art
• Instagram: Dianarice.art

Image Credits

Brooke Mott