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Diane Rudnick Mann
www.dianerudnickmann.com
dmann296@pacbell.net
Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, Diane Rudnick Mann worked in various careers such as marketing, as a house renovator, a writer and also in the retail business before finally turning to her art. Though primarily self taught, she considers the drawing classes she took at UCLA in 1999, which were based on an art teaching method called ‘Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain,’ as a life-altering experience. Learning to do portraits in pencil, then in colored crayons and pastels, she became hooked and began creating her own style of trompe l’oeil and photo real images. Realism, though difficult to master, was the work she wanted to do.
Her artworks depict every-day, common objects she finds in antique stores or by rummaging around the drawers in her own house. Using whatever comes to hand Diane creates compositions which she then photographs, constantly re-arranging the elements to obtain several different photos, before choosing which to use as a basis for her pastel drawing. Her goal is to infuse a kind of personality to these mundane objects to which we generally give so little attention. Diane seeks to provoke, through realism, an emotive response in the viewer which goes beyond mere appreciation of the technique and aesthetic appeal.
Statement: “I think all creative people are insecure. It comes with the territory. As an artist I am constantly battling against my own insecurity. I question everything I do. Once I get started on new work I become obsessed with it. Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night and turn on the light and think of something I should have done. I go to the easel and stand there and it’ll be 4:30 am before I’m done. Even when it’s good, sometimes I just can’t see it. No matter how many paintings I’ve done I am completely amazed and blown away when the painting develops. A realist painter has to control every stroke and concentrate very intensely. It has to be precise and I can’t let go of it unless it’s absolutely right. I also think I’m afraid of broadening out a little and loosening up. I’d like to try oil – to try something with a brush and see how it goes.”
Signature Member (Juried), of the Pastel Society of America, and a member of the Pastel Society of Southern California, Diane’s work is in numerous private collections.
Gallery Shows
2011 TAG "The Beauty of Ordinary Objects", Los Angeles *** 2010 TAG Group Show, Los Angeles
2010 TAG April Show "Common Objects", Los Angeles, CA
Education: 2005-2006 Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, Reseda, CA
2000-2006 Scottsdale Artist's Academy, Scottsdale AZ Doug Dawson, Sally Strand, Jane Lund
1999-2000 Associates in Art, Los Angeles, CA **** 1999 UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, drawing
1978-1979 Boston University, Boston, MA **** 1965 Fashion Institute of Technology, New York,
1963-1964 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Awards
2011 Honorable Mention, Still Life, The Pastel Journal 11th Annual Pastel 100 Competition
2009 Honorable Mention, Still Life, The Pastel Journal 9th Annual Pastel 100 Competition
2007 Finalist, Still Life, The Artist Magazine 2007 Annual Competition
2007 Winner, Emerging Artists 2007 Calendar
2002 Finalist, Still Life & Floral The Pastel Journal 3rd Annual Pastel 100 Competition
2001 2nd Place, Student/Still Life, The Artist Magazine's 2001 Annual Art Competition
2001 Honorable Mention, Artistic Achievement, Portrait, Juried Exhibition American Artist Magazine Art Methods and Materials Show.
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* None of the artworks may be copied or reproduced without the written permission of the Artist