Dianne Bailey Allen

Artist Statement

Intrigued by the familiar, simple things in life that surround me: children playing in a park, flowers growing with abandon in a garden, views from my verandah; my paintings reflect my family, friends and environment and serve as a window to my world.
I prefer working from life or from my imagination, because this allows me to be spontaneous and to connect more intimately with my subject.
Initially, I work in a fast, gestural way, with a limited pallet, mixing many of my colours on my paper or canvas as I go. Despite a preference for warm, neutral colours; greens and pale violets seem to find a way into many of my pieces as I strive to capture a sense of light, warmth, depth and intimacy. In the end, my pieces become more refined but remain painterly, never so realistic as to resemble a photograph.
My work has been described as sensitive and I have often been told that many of my subjects remind the viewer of someone or somewhere they know.