Today we’d like to introduce you to Diane Anderson.
Hi Diane, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up just east of Cleveland, Ohio, with a love of both nature and art. As I was growing up, I decided that I wanted to work in a scientific or computer-related field. I also decided that art would continue to be a part of my life. I graduated from Cleveland State University with a Bachelor of Science in biology with a chemistry minor, and just a few sketchbooks from a couple of intro art classes.
In the mid 1990s, I moved to Maryland, near Washington DC to work in biotechnology. I was asked by a coworker to go to a pearl-knotting class with her, since she wanted to fix a necklace, but she was hesitant to go alone. I believe that this is where it all started… I learned to knot pearls, and then to string beads and make simple earrings and necklaces. The more jewelry I made and the more beads and findings I acquired, the more I wanted control over my beads – I wanted to make my own! I worked in polymer clay for a short while, and enjoyed sculpting with it, but set clay sculpture aside for many years.
One day, at a bead store in DC, I saw a sign on the wall that said, “Make Your Own Glass Beads.” It was 1994 and I had never heard of actually working with hot glass, for real, at home. People were just not doing it yet. As it turned out, all I needed was cash for the class – the blowtorch and glass would be provided. Melt glass? With a blowtorch? And probably a kiln? I was terrified. But the scientist in me was absolutely intrigued. I’d used Bunsen burners in the lab. I’d used both extreme heat and extreme cold. What could possibly go wrong? I was too excited to think long about it – I signed up for the class and fell in love with making actual little glass objects, sculpted by my own hands. Soon I was making lots of glass beads and jewelry, but did not have a clear direction.
In the late 90s, I moved back to Ohio, into the Akron area. The ten years following brought difficulty and darkness for me. I produced very little art during this time – the pain of that era, however, prepared me for the artistic emergence to come.
I eventually found myself living in a small apartment, without the use of my glass-melting blowtorches. I did, however, have a tiny kiln for slow-cooling my glass beads. That kiln would become my ticket to learning the art of enameling – the melting and fusing of glass powders to copper. I fell in love with copper, and soon developed an interest in electroforming, which is a method for plating objects in copper using electricity and chemistry. Again, the scientist in me couldn’t help herself. I had started investigating and gathering supplies when COVID-19 quarantine hit in 2020. I had just acquired my full collection of electroforming equipment when the world shut down.
In that time of grief and strange quiet, I began my own recovery with the help of my artwork. Newly married and living in a house with space for me to grow, I taught myself the art of electroforming, using the few books and videos available online. As I started with simple stone pendants, I began using epoxy clay to set stones and began to do some sculpting. I finally asked myself how I could combine ALL of the artforms that I loved the most, from melting glass to enameling to sculpting to electroforming.
The answer came in 2023. As I was experimenting with combining my art media, I entered the only art show that I knew about, which was at a local gallery. My multimedia neckpiece, Optional Octopus, was accepted into the juried show. Much to my surprise, it won Honorable Mention! I felt noticed for the first time – it seemed like a turning point, from creating craft jewelry in an assembly line style to sculpting an art piece that could win an award. I decided that I was never again going to make a piece that did not encompass my entire heart. I wanted every piece of art to take a lot of time and effort, and really contain my story, skill and love.
I began meeting other artists in my area and joined a few local artist organizations – another turning point. I was learning of opportunities and calls for art in my area and beyond, while networking with many of my local counterparts. It was then that I started exploring my vision and finding my voice. I began my first series, Symbiosis, in 2024 and branched out to include small wall sculptures. Many of my Symbiont pieces were featured in the Canton Museum of Art gift shop area, and two pieces were accepted into a group show inside the museum itself. Never would I have believed that my art would be seen at a museum! I now have displayed art in juried group shows from CMA to Massillon Museum, Mansfield Art Center, Summit Artspace in Akron, as well as at private galleries throughout northeastern Ohio. Every acceptance still delights me!
This year, 2025, saw my first solo exhibition at The BOX Gallery inside of Summit Artspace. It was an incredible experience! I was able to be present for all of my show’s open hours throughout the month of January. I was privileged to speak to every single attendee, and I truly felt like I found my tribe. I am looking forward to my next solo show at Brewtifully in Canton in January 2026, where I will exhibit not only my Symbionts, but some of the first pieces from my new series, Emergence.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There’s really no smooth road. If your road is smooth for too long, you start to lose all appreciation for the smoothness. I’ve had personal struggles, and artistic struggles, that have made me who I am. Speaking artistically, my biggest struggle has been finding my role as an artist while working daily in a non-artistic career. I have had very little art education and up to this point, very little experience with art institutions like galleries or museums. Strangely enough, that same struggle is also one of the strongest points of my current artistic success. Working daily in a non-artistic career has kept me fed, housed and independent, while allowing me continue finding my role as an artist. It’s the give and take of the smooth and bumpy road.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m known for making organic-looking multimedia jewelry and wall sculptures based upon natural structures. They all crawl with an unknown but benevolent Creature that helps bring beauty from the murky depths. A piece usually begins with a seashell, seed pod or fossil, bedecked with stones, enameled copper, glass, rhinestones or whatever strikes the Creature’s fancy. I use epoxy clay to sculpt the dark lifeform. Its frills and tentacles live in harmony (symbiosis) with these bejeweled natural relics, and are often seen emerging with armfuls of beautiful trinkets from under the waves. I then electroform portions of the piece in copper, which I finish and seal. I conceived of the Creature in 2024, but there have been hints of it throughout my decades of previous jewelry. There are sometimes suffocating waters that attempt to hold us under. The dark Creature is there in the depths, finding those sparks of light, color, beauty, creativity, hope, and love that dwell in the deepest darkness and bringing them with us to the surface.
What sets me apart is my unusual combination of techniques, creating a coherent set of media that I use to tell my stories. Each piece in my Symbiosis series is a harmonious and beautiful ecosystem between the structure and the Creature, along with the items of beauty it found in the depths below. Each piece in my current Emergence series is a moment in the life of a Creature, when it is emerging from its structure and reaching forward, offering its beautiful treasures from under the surface. These ecosystems and moments are captured in time and in physical form for you to have and to hold, to wear or to admire, or both.
I am most proud of the pieces that have been selected to be shown in group exhibits next to the work of others whom I admire and respect.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Keep going. In some capacity, in whatever capacity you can. Just keep going.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dianeandersonart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianeandersonart/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DianeAndersonArt/
