Diane Epstein

Diane Epstein

I have been a freelance graphic designer for more than thirty-six years throughout the Midwest. I have designed print materials for many fields including television, magazines, small business, educational programs, and the non-profit sector. I have been involved in all stages of the graphics process from design to final print.

Over the last few years I have been drawing/painting with pastels and watercolors, creating portraits of people and animals. My passion is drawing portraits for the parents of children who have either passed on or have a terminal illness. These are sent to the parents as a condolence gift.

contact artist

Cynthia Durost

Cynthia Durost

I paint because I am struck by the multitude of colors and sights of Nature. I paint as a form of meditation releasing my energy, joy, sadness, or love. I paint as an expression of my relation to the whole, to Nature. The browns, blues, ochres, reds, purples, blacks, and yellow are so vivid; even the snow presents color in reverse. I also have a longing for the space of Nature: the sky, the water, the trees, the rocks opening up. I see the relationship between forms and space - two trees stand juxtaposed leaning and finally encircling each other, two friends. I want only to keep recording my feeling in the natural space. The best of my painting experience exists in my being present spontaneously painting with the flow of water and color.

Sometimes, I paint a scene over and over, later to learn a message exists. In New Mexico, for instance, I paint a mountain scene again and again, later to learn Zuni women ascend the heights of this mountain to gather a ceremonial flower which grows only on this mountain. I am drawn to certain places, the fields and marshes and woods of New England, the canyonlands, rivers, and mountains of New Mexico and Arizona, the islands of Cape Verde, or the rainforests of Costa Rica. There is for me a connecting force between mind and Nature, a play of consciousness and spirit. I acknowledge land and wild animals, and especially the space without the importance of humans. The artist in me follows instinct and intuition, is connected to all peoples, crosses all boundaries, is open and searching.

I also believe firmly in sharing and passing on the tradition and experience of painting and being an artist. In this exchange with many others, I continue to learn and grow and play.

contact info:
T: 573-355-2294

durostMountainscape.jpg

durostVaseFlowers.jpg

durostWaterLandscape.jpg

durostWaterscape.jpg

contact artist

Marilyn Cummins

Marilyn Cummins

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there lay in me an invincible summer." – Albert Camus

I’ve loved to sketch and paint since I was a young girl on the farm, and I was fortunate to have a great art teacher (Mel Panter) in my small-town high school. But art was one of many interests, and not the one I pursued as a college major and career (ag journalism, in newspaper, magazine, PR/advertising agencies, and my own business for the past 26 years).  Still, the latent artist in me was always there: taking me into art museums on every business and vacation trip; collecting art supplies too rarely used; and, visiting galleries and meeting artists whose world my creative soul wanted to join. 

It wasn’t until I was in my late 40s and settled back in Columbia, that a magazine assignment to cover the local art community in word and photos led me to learn of the first painting workshop offered by an artist I greatly admired: Joel Sager. It was time to get serious about creating art, and with Joel’s encouragement, I followed up the 2007 summer workshops by studying with him nearly every week for close to five years, soaking up his expert guidance and being inspired by observing his process in the studio we shared for a time.

I began working in a favorite technique of Joel’s at the time: layering oils, acrylic, collage and tar washes in multimedia paintings, sometimes based on watercolor sketches inspired by my own photography of the land or of people. I needed to find my own voice, though, and in time, my rather minimalist landscape studies and other watercolor works began to stand on their own and became a trademark of mine. This still amazes me, after fearing and avoiding the medium for so many years.

As I continue to work and experiment with a variety of media – oil, watercolor, mixed-media in two and three dimensions, Chinese brush painting, photography – I strive to let go vs. trying to control the medium or create exact representations. When I’m successful, the invincible summer in me is able to find its voice and reach out to others in ways that are sometimes peaceful and serene; other times edgy and ironic.

For many years, I called Columbia’s Orr Street Studios home, but due to COVID-19 and other issues, I’ve moved back to my home studio with a peaceful view of my yard and woods. I encourage you to come visit Invincible Summer Studios virtually (for now), and also to pursue your own creative dreams, no matter your age or time in life. I believe there is an invincible summer in each of us.

Marilyn Cummins
Invincible Summer Studios

contact info:
Tel: 573-239-1229

www.invinciblesummerstudios.com

contact artist