Diane's Dynamic World: Vibrant art, 4000 masks, and war-themed eggs for Ukraine
She’s a bold personality, with an even bolder palette.
“When did I know I wanted to be an artist? Always, always, always,” said Diane Woodward.
“It was like magic for me to make things more colourful.”
There are minimalists. And then, there’s Diane.
“I don’t like empty spaces. I’m a maximalist. What’s a maximalist? It’s decorating the decorated decorations. How far too far can I go?” she said, smiling.
Diane moved to Madoc, Ont. from Ottawa 22 years ago, bringing her trademark blazes of colour to the town’s landscape.
“When I was a kid, I used to take the bus from Toronto to Ottawa and I just wanted to live on the edge of a little town in an eyesore tourist attraction,” she said.
“I realize now I should have dreamed bigger,” she laughed.
A painting by Diane Woodward of Madoc, Ont.
Her property is hardly an eyesore. It’s a feast for your eyes; an unending, sumptuous buffet in every direction. There are layers of painted treasures up, down and all around!
“The house is a by-product of my constant need to make stuff,” she said.
“At first, I was painting people. And then people and animals and then I was like ‘what do you paint after you paint animals?’ I ended up painting God. So, I traveled around India painting temples there and temple art.”
Diane’s inspiration is everywhere.
“There’s some very joyful paintings. Little kids so excited, looking like they’re going to explode which was very fun.”
But Diane’s house of smiles hasn’t been immune to the world’s heartaches.
A painting by Diane Woodward of Madoc, Ont.
“For the last two years, I’ve been the ‘Madoc Mask Fairy’,” she said.
Encouraged by a doctor friend at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Diane began sewing masks and giving them away.
“As of last night, I’ve made 4,242 masks,” she said.
Diane’s offering to others has been a gift to her.
“Can you imagine what it’s done to my life over the last two years to hear that four thousand times? They say, ‘Thank you, this is beautiful, I just love it.’ This is what got me through the pandemic.”
And Diane understands the fragility of health.
“I had uterine cancer,” she said.
“I was so lucky I found out when I did.”
She says thanks to surgery and excellent medical care, her cancer is gone. And, she says, the experience helped her reframe a lifelong struggle with mental health.
“I was suicidal from the time I was seven until I was 57,” she said.
“I’m happy now. The cancer didn’t make me happy but my unhappiness is gone.”
A painting by Diane Woodward of Madoc, Ont.
That said, Diane feels to her core the collective grief and anguish of war.
“There’s a feeling of helplessness. So, I paint. And I’m doing war paintings right now with Ukrainian Easter eggs,” she said.
“I’ve painted pictures of Ukrainian Easter eggs for decades. It’s a thing of beauty that Ukraine has given to the world.”
A painting by Diane Woodward of Madoc, Ont.
A portion of the sales from her paintings will go to Ukrainian relief efforts.
For now, creating powerful paintings of the eggs will be Diane’s mission.
Her future, like a self-portrait leaning against a wall in one of her kaleidoscopic rooms, is a work in progress, just waiting to embrace all the colours of life.
“Ambition, like fame, fortune and beautiful lovers, I’m not interested in that stuff any more. But I’m driven. Every day, I get up and I make something.”
You can view Diane’s work on Instagram @dianewoodwardart, at dianewoodward.com or in Perth at concavegallery.com
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.