Diane Kramer is the BEST!

Diane Kramer spent most of second semester as "artist-in-residence" at Arts Academy in the Woods, where I teach art to high school kids. When I first learned that we might have someone joining us in this capacity, I have to admit to initially having had a bit of uncertainty about the situation. Happily, it turned out to be a GREAT experience! Painter, sculptor, photographer, and mixed-media artist, Diane is extremely prolific, cranking out a LOT of really high-quality art. She divided her time between the classroom and working in her studio.


Kramer, Inside the Wall


Art student Nya H.


Kramer, Spirit Warriors, work in progress

"Rooted in intuition", as she says, there is a real magic to her work. She combines oil paint with the most mundane items-- pieces of bark, random bits of wood, cloth, string, small bits of hardware, etc.-- more personal items are included as well-- all ever so seamlessly, into work that is incredibly rich visually and endlessly intriguing from an intellectual and emotional standpoint.


Spirit Warrrior close-up

That's just a bit about her art. As great as all of that was, even better than that was Diane herself-- endlessly giving, caring, and yes loving. She put heart and soul into sharing as much of herself as my students and I were willing to receive. And not just my students-- lots of other kids, non-art students, routinely visited Diane in her studio up on the second floor.


Visual Art students


Art students "feeling the power"!

For me personally, Diane was a complete joy to work with. She was filled with enthusiasm, but never the least bit intrusive. In fact, she fit in so well, wherever she could, that she was a tremendous help to me in more ways than I can go into in a few short paragraphs.





Diane quickly became a part of all of our lives, and a part of her will be with all of us, always. Thank you, Diane, from the bottom of my heart. You are the BEST!

You can see Diane's journey at our school on her blog, STUDIOKRAMER, and be sure to check out her website, where you can see a bunch of her work in a wide range of media.


Kramer, untitled


Kramer, The Dream

We will miss you, and you had better come back for a visit once in a while-- OR ELSE!