Creative Profile Diana tends to paint in bright acrylic colours with a subject matter which is exotic and often inspired by her travels abroad. Her work is a combination of visionary and theatrical input, and she has exhibited in both Europe and the USA. In the mid nineties she worked for a year as artist in residence at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, painting the plays and actors from that season onto 20 large canvases which were exhibited in the theatre, with accompanying cards and prints. Her paintings of lovers or heroes captured in a moment of destiny, included portraits of some of our finest actors, including Sir Derek Jacobi, Iain Glen, Toby Stevens and Joseph Fiennes. An exhibition of these oils resulted in an invitation from Maria de Grazia, widow of the well known American painter, to show her art at the Gallery in the Sun, Tucson, Arizona. In 1997, she exhibited there and in other galleries in the southwest, resulting in an international market for her work. Since graduating from Birmingham College of Art, Diana has combined her art career with teaching in colleges and schools as well as running her own creative work-shops. She is an art tutor for Dramart productions and teaches in both Italy and Greece.

At that time, the Royal Shakespeare theatre would allow artists into the theatre for a year, and allowed them to paint the season of Shakespearean (and plays by playwrights contemporary to Shakespeare), which were performed in the Main House and the Swan theatres. I took up the challenge, and during the year of 1994-1995 produced a variety of large sized canvases, depicting the plays and the main actors performing in them. These paintings were exhibited in the theatre, and cards and prints were sold in the theatre shops and displayed in the main house foyer. Leading upto this year of artistic activity, I had taken a job in the Swan theatre, and found myself serving the actors there from the preceding season. This included Ralph Fiennes, who often browsed through the books, and spent time reading in the shop. It was a surreal existence, in Stratford-Upon-Avon then, I would see him backstage, and other actors in the gym. A few years later I would be exhibiting my Shakespearean paintings in the U.S.A., and talking about them on Arizona T.V. at the same time as The English Patient was released there. I was telling the visitors, who came to my exhibition, how talented his brother, Joseph was; I had a portrait of him on show in The Herbal Bed. A year later they were to see for themselves, when Shakespeare in Love was such a success. I loved the year painting the actors, many of whom went on to be international stars. To receive a letter from Jeremy Irons congratulating me on my work was thrilling, and also receiving a royal letter from Prince Charles, patron of the R.S.C. (albeit his secretary, passing on his comments on my Henry V painting).