Diana Tremaine

By the Shore I - oil on canvas birds, nature, abstract

2019

'Disruption', created by Diana Tremaine, who uses swans as a metaphor for beauty and resilience rising above chaos during difficult times. Rich colors — blue, cream, burgundy and whi...

'The Wind Whipped Up and They Welcomed Its Offering' - seagulls stand against an abstracted beach scene in this contemporary oil on canvas painting, 'Contemplating Progress II', by artist Diana Tremaine, whose series of paintings that depict abstracted birds and natural elements is called "Navigating Crosscurrents". The 45 x 45 inch painting beautifully bridges abstraction with realism via a calming palette of warmth and layers of paint. Tremaine's dynamic, representational and nature-centric oil paintings reflect a search for truth and meaning. The artist develops brushstrokes and marks by adding and then obliterating some of the story in a free-association editorial process of discovering what is most important and lasting. The melancholy images echo her experiences in an autobiographical fashion, but they are also universal and touch upon and evoke our collective memories like ghosts of what was. Created with a limited palette, there is visual poetry in her surfaces, including the tension that exists when simultaneously holding on and letting go. Diana Tremaine's Artist Statement for this series, 'Navigating Crosscurrents': "I am often taken aback by the might shown by tiny little songbirds managing the winds and rains that at times surround them. In my “Navigating Crosscurrents” series, the birds stand as metaphors for the human experience while the abstraction around them represents the forces - both internal and external, natural and man-made - that act around and within each of us every day. Life is a balancing act – at times breezy and light, at others cacophonous and overwhelming. These images speak metaphorically to the delicate balance and fortitude required as we journey down our respective paths." The bicoastal New York City-born artist studied and taught in both Northern and Southern California. She later moved to Montana—in a search for spiritual space and room to breathe—where she works and lives with her family, dogs and horses. 'Down by the Pier...