Diane L Farquhar Hallstrom

Diane is a native Oregon. She grew up in the Willamette Valley where she had opportunities to show horses, play sports, camp and spend time in the mountains, in the desert and at the beach. Growing up with a father who was a professional photographer, she learned composition and gained a keen appreciation for creating unique insights into ordinary subjects. Many of his photographs recalled memories common to the human experience. Diane fell in love with the simplicity of black and white photographs and was intrigued by darkroom processes that manipulated images resulting in outcomes like double exposure, solarization and polarization.

Although Diane majored in economics, finance and law during college, she studied art history, ancient through modern. She was captivated with composition, color, form, light and abstraction. She developed a deep affection for the creative process and gained a lasting interest in modern artists and abstraction. Last year Diane had the opportunity to travel to London where she viewed paintings by JMW Turner (1775-1851), the classically trained painter who broke rules by painting abstract skies, adding a sense of motion and shrouding a locomotive in abstraction.

Diane’s first creative ventures included writing free verse poetry and haiku. Diane has had many poems and haiku published, and she often includes original poetry and haiku with images of her paintings.

As her art interests evolved, Diane ventured into painting. Initially, her focus was on acrylic abstraction, and later she added representational landscapes, animals and western themed paintings in oil. She finds representational oil painting an invigorating challenge. Currently, she is combining abstraction with representational styles as she continues her quest to master the “art” of painting. Diane’s most recent paintings will be on display at the Hood Avenue Art Gallery at the 4th Friday Artwalk in April 2023. farqart.com • dianelhallstrom.com