Artist's Statement

My art has evolved from a love of drawing and painting combined with a passion for gardening and plant life.  Using classical drawing and painting techniques from the French Court period (1740-1880’s), my botanical art pieces reflect plants in their botanically correct form.  The technique allows me to show the plants  up close and personal  and also to disclose a bit of their individual attitudes.
 
The process for classic botanical painting begins with the live plant.  The plant for each drawing or painting is studied; and its structure, habitat, growth habits and method of pollination are all recorded.
 
“In botanical art the beauty is all in the details.”

Biography

Diane is an award-winning artist in both Ohio and Florida where she has won awards from several venues including the Florida Native Plant Society’s Symposium cover competition and the Smoky Mountain Wildflower Brochure competition. 
 
Born and raised for most of her childhood in Michigan.  She attended Michigan State University for three years as fine arts major and finished her college education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with both a bachelor and masters degree in Art Education.

As a graduate assistant to the Dean of the Art Education Department at Miami she received a high degree of teaching experience which greatly prepared her to teach high school art in Dayton, Ohio.
 
After raising her children, she re-entered the business world as an account executive for a major communications company.  During this time she continued to take art courses at night and exhibited in several local shows.  Upon retiring from the corporate world, she began her own business, Fee, Fie, Faux, Fun, doing faux finishes, painted furniture, Trompe L’Oeile, and murals.
 
While working as a decorative painter, Diane completed the Master Gardener Program through the Ohio State Extension in Montgomery County, Ohio and has become very active in the organization, as program committee chair and board member.  Her study of plants through the Master Gardener training and her love of gardening have greatly influenced her botanical art.
 
In 2005 the Harm’s became snowbirds spending the winters in Florida.  Intrigued by combining her knowledge of gardening with her artistic temperament, Diane enrolled in the Botanical Art & Illustration program designed by O.M. Braida for the Ringling School of Art and Design.  Her interest in botanical art became a passion and she decided to pursue her Certification in Botanical Art under the tutelage of O.M. Braida which she earned in December of 2008.  During these years she was also a founding member of the Florida Society of Botanical Artists and acted as Vice President and newsletter editor until 2008. Currently, Diane lives with her husband Marty in rural southwest Ohio.  She has two married sons and four grandchildren.

Certifications

• Certified Botanical Artist

• Certified Academy Instructor

• Director of Academy@Ohio An Authorized Affiliate of the Academy of Botanical Art