I am recently re-emerging back into an art focus and with a new medium for me, felting.  Felting has a wonderful tactile component and has a great potential for expressing images in a watercolor-like manner.  Both wet and dry needle felting techniques were used on this piece, Sunset Snow Dusting on Dunes, and color shifts were achieved by blending various colors of roving together and layering them in the application process.

I have been away from actively focusing on art for many years while teaching at Purdue and Valparaiso universities, then working for a CAD software company in Pennsylvania, and most recently doing kitchen and bath design here in Pagosa Springs.  My BA and MA degrees from Purdue University were in metal smithing and at that time I worked on sculpture and jewelry.   During the time between degrees, I spent a year as an apprentice at the Johnson Atelier, a foundry for casting artists’ work. 

It feels great to be back into an art focus, especially at a stage in my life when I can be more playful with the work.

Diane Davis is recently re-emerging back into an art focus and with a new medium for her, felting. In recent years she found herself collecting fiber because of the wonderful textures and colors, but often never acquiring a large enough quantity to make something from it. After trying knitting and weaving, she found felting which has a wonderful tactile component and has a great potential for expressing images in a watercolor-like manner. Finally she can collect wonderful fibers with a sense of purpose and direction. She uses both wet and dry needle felting techniques, and often mixes them with basket weaving and metal working techniques. She is happy to be back into an art focus, especially at a stage in life when she can be more playful with the work.

Her BA and MA degrees were from Purdue University in metal smithing and at that time she focused on sculpture and jewelry. During the time between degrees, she spent a year as an apprentice at the Johnson Atelier, a foundry for casting artists' work. During the many years away from actively focusing on art, she taught interior design at Purdue and Valparaiso universities. After that she was the academic program director for an international CAD software company in Pennsylvania, developing a marketing program targeted toward secondary and postsecondary schools. Most recently she did kitchen and bath design here in Pagosa Springs through Cabinets Plus, a business owned by her husband, Kent, and herself from 1999 until their retirement at the end of 2007.