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Carving a Creative Path: Diane Kappa on Texture, Pattern, and Process
132 Plays9 hours ago
Diane Kappa is a lifelong artist and the daughter of an artist. After founding her art licensing business nearly 20 years ago, she spent many years designing to creative briefs—a challenge she still enjoys for its problem-solving aspects. But in recent years, her focus has shifted toward more personal exploration, a journey that has deepened her creative practice and enriched her commercial design work.
Linoleum block printing has become her most personal and expressive medium. Drawn to its tactile process, bold shapes, and the meditative rhythm of carving by hand, Diane often combines her hand-carved prints with stitching and layered details. Her work explores the interplay of texture, pattern, and process—three themes that guided her recent artist residency. Texture is revealed through physical and visual layers; Pattern draws inspiration from sources like tattered wallpaper and vintage textiles; and Process honors the thoughtful, hands-on journey behind each piece.
Travel continues to inspire her work. Having lived in Budapest for four years, she regularly attends creative retreats in India, France, Mexico, and across the U.S.—experiences that provide time to reset, refocus, and reconnect with what matters most in her art.
A passionate teacher, Diane offers block printing classes from her studio, nurturing creative community and helping others reconnect with their artistic voice.
Website: https://www.dianekappa.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianekappa/
Retreat: https://www.artistsrising.net/diane-kappa-2026
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Transcript
Introduction to Rebloom Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome to Rebloom, the podcast where we explore the power of change, rediscovery, and living with intention. That's right. We're your hosts, Lori and Jamie, two friends who really love a good story about transformation.
Embracing Authenticity and Childhood Passions
00:00:17
Speaker
In each podcast, we're going to chat with inspiring guests who've made bold pivots in their lives or careers. They've let go of what no longer serve them to embrace something more authentic, joyful, and true to who they really are.
00:00:31
Speaker
And the best part, many of them reconnect with passions or dreams they discovered as kids. It's about finding the seeds planted long ago and letting them bloom again.
00:00:43
Speaker
So if you're ready for real conversations about reinvention, purpose, and following your creative heart, you're in the right place.
Diane's Transformative Journey in France
00:00:52
Speaker
Let's dive in and see what it takes to re-bloom.
00:00:56
Speaker
Jamie, wasn't it wonderful talking to our friend Diane today? oh my gosh. Wait till you hear Diane's story. I mean, one of the things that is so amazing when we have these conversations is you hear a journey,
00:01:13
Speaker
But then you hear just this pure joy like you had when you were a child that just comes out of every pore of someone. And Diane, um my God, I'm just getting chills thinking about our conversation because it was incredible hearing about her experience in her residency in France. and Yeah. Yeah.
00:01:37
Speaker
I mean, i I think it's the culmination of things she's been working towards over the last few years. I've been watching as she's been blossoming. And I think that was just one more piece of the puzzle to just really light her up. And so hearing her story, I think our listeners are going to really love it.
00:01:57
Speaker
You're going to love it. Not only Diane beautiful artist, she has rebloomed in the most beautiful ways. Enjoy, everyone.
00:02:06
Speaker
Well, hello. We are going to have an awesome conversation today. Lori. Jane. I'm excited about today because we're interviewing a longtime friend of mine.
Introducing Diane Kappa, Floral Artist
00:02:20
Speaker
Well, not a super long time, but it feels like it.
00:02:24
Speaker
yeah and And you know her as well. do. Do you want to do the intro? I do. Well, we actually, it's rare that you and I have both met our guest, but you you were so kind to invite me to Richwood on the River last fall, where I met the incredible Diane Kappa.
00:02:45
Speaker
who is amazing. And she's this brilliant artist. And I watched her create um these just beautiful flowers. And we had great fun and great conversation.
00:02:57
Speaker
and so um we cannot wait to hear about her wonderful art journey and the pivots that she's had along the way. And hello, Diane. How are you? Hi. good to see you guys. Hello, friend. Hello. Diane lives on the other side of the country, so we don't get to see her very much. Where do you hail from now, Diane?
Relocating to Seattle: Weather and Fashion Experiences
00:03:19
Speaker
Seattle. Seattle. It's really cold here. I was just out that way. Yeah. yeah Well, Diane had to loan me a coat when I went to teach out that way last year.
00:03:32
Speaker
Little did I know that you need a coat when you're in the Pacific Northwest. Yes. She came with like this like cute summer clothes because it was nice and hot. And I'm like, Eve.
00:03:42
Speaker
It's not jacket, right? Because at night, it's a different story. Yeah. Well, I was just down in Charleston, and it was 90-some, and I'm like, this is horrible. i mean I mean, I love Charleston, and I was with the baby, but I was like, oh, my God, I need cool. and it And I'm wearing a wool sweater today in Ohio. So, yeah, it's... um it's It's pretty normal.
00:04:03
Speaker
Yeah, pretty normal weather. But well, so you're in Seattle. um Tell us a little bit about your art journey. Like where have you always been an artist? wendy Can I say something really quick before you jump in yeah I just want to say that you're a great candidate for this because I've just been watching you re-bloom over the last...
00:04:28
Speaker
I don't know how many years, maybe since you've known me. Yeah. Yeah. and think question you and then You came to my France retreat and i don't know what year that was. 2018, 2019. That sounds about right. But I've just been watching it
Artistic Influence from Mother and Grandmother
00:04:45
Speaker
happen. So hearing your story will be really fine.
00:04:50
Speaker
So take us back as far as you want to go back. Yeah. Well, um I have to start with my mom because she was an artist. And so um daughter of an artist, and she eventually became my art teacher when I got to high school.
00:05:06
Speaker
So um whether I wanted to focus on art or not, it was just always in my life. And um it's funny because as i I think back to when I was a kid, you know, people remember like they've been drawing since five or six or whatever. and I mean, I did win a poster contest in first grade.
00:05:29
Speaker
I do remember that. There we go. But really, I think it was just being around art and artists. um My mom went to college at ah Mount St. Joe in Cincinnati. Oh, wow. i didn't know that.
00:05:46
Speaker
Yeah. And um she took my sister and i to school with her back in the day. um when she would have like, I remember going in and she'd go to the photocopier and my sister and I'd be like, how much longer do we have? She's but she's like doing some research for art papers and such.
00:06:04
Speaker
But she um also ran Studio San Giuseppe, which was the college yeah gallery. So every Sunday um or whenever they had openings, my sister and I were always at those gallery openings.
00:06:18
Speaker
And because my dad would typically be working, he was fireman. And so my sister and I would be at the gallery and my mom, they had these classrooms down the hall.
00:06:30
Speaker
My mom would shove us in a classroom and say, you know, just stay quiet. And um I was always the teacher and my sister was always the the troubling student.
00:06:41
Speaker
But it was thinking back at that time, was like, there were two rooms that I specifically remember and one was full of looms And the other one was full of um of tables and paints and everything smelled of turpentine and art supplies, right? And to be in those, to hang out in those rooms unsupervised, like just to kind of like be a little nosy as a kid, i think that really was and um important time for me.
00:07:16
Speaker
um So anyway, so my
Shift from Fashion Design to Art
00:07:18
Speaker
mom was a huge influence and we got art supplies for every um holiday, whether we wanted them or not. And then my grandma, um and who will be 97 this 4th of July. Wow. She says she's not creative, but she's a huge quilter and she taught me to sew as a kid.
00:07:38
Speaker
And um she's my biggest fan now. So if anybody follows me on Facebook, typically um my grandma will comment. I love you or I love your work because she is on Facebook. oh um So there's always been creativity in my life.
00:07:57
Speaker
um Let's see. When I was in high school, I wanted to go to college to be a painter. This I think will be interesting um for your listeners.
00:08:09
Speaker
So my mom being an artist and knowing how, uh, how difficult it is to be a fine artist and to make a living, she sort of sat me down and encouraged me to go into something a bit more commercial.
00:08:24
Speaker
So I went to school for fashion design. um When I was in college, I went to the University of Cincinnati and this will date me.
00:08:37
Speaker
they had just started using CAD to do textile design. So for anybody out there who knows textile design back in the day, we would paint acetate sheets from a photocopier to do your colorways and stuff. And then for a, for a salesman sample, you cut out the icon and you tape the acetate colored thing on the sweatshirt.
00:09:02
Speaker
So they were just starting to do CAD design then. uh, I was sort of a guinea pig for a student. So that's when I was introduced to pattern design and textiles. Wow. So you were so you you did pursue perceive started pursuing art, obviously, in college.
00:09:21
Speaker
And, well, an artistic career, I should say. yeah and in high school, I was really into art. um I loved to draw. And my mom taught a class called Applied Arts, I think. So we did Cuisine, Cuisine.
00:09:37
Speaker
we did batik, we did printmaking. So, um, I was exposed to all sorts of art. Yeah. Um, did you get into the fashion industry?
00:09:50
Speaker
I did.
Career at Nordstrom and Pattern Design
00:09:51
Speaker
um i worked for Lane Bryant right out of school for a year. And then I moved to Seattle 1996. And, um,
00:10:03
Speaker
and um My BFF, Emily, who is now my next door neighbor, she recruited me to move out to Seattle. Lori knows Emily. Yeah, she's great. Yeah.
00:10:14
Speaker
So she recruited me to Seattle. I worked for um a small local company for six months. And then I got a job with Nordstrom and I was at Nordstrom for 11 years. So definitely did my time in the corporate world.
00:10:29
Speaker
Okay. And so were you doing art and fashion with them or what were you doing with them? ah Pattern design. so So designing kids wear and then eventually I worked in a department which was sort of like in-house freelance. So when the men's department needed help, I went and worked in the men's department developing patterns for menswear.
00:10:52
Speaker
When the high-end women's needed help, I went there. When juniors needed help, I went there. So Lori always describes herself as a chameleon. And that's kind of what I was. And that's what they wanted me to be, was to switch my style based on where I was in the So I'm wondering, you your grandmother was into quilting, so that's very pattern-oriented. Was your mom also? um Like, i still see a thread of your love of pattern in the work that you're doing now.
00:11:25
Speaker
So it seems like that has been always present. So I'm just um just curious about that. She, um you know, she went through stages.
00:11:35
Speaker
of different art, like we all, like ah most artists do. So she went through a flower phase where she did flowers for a long time. And then she went through trees and a water phase with rocks and water. So pattern in nature, I would say.
00:11:51
Speaker
um understand I hadn't even really thought about that, Lori, because now when I'm thinking of some of her, my favorite painting paintings of hers, they're very detailed and there's pattern within the leaves and pattern within the bark and pattern within the water. that's not what you me of.
00:12:12
Speaker
Yeah. I'm like, huh, that's interesting. I haven't really thought of it. yeah. Oh, that's interesting. So did you, so you, you pivoted from Nordstrom. Did you, rule I mean, what was it fulfilling? You wanted something else. What, what was the. It was, it was really hard to work in the apparel industry.
00:12:36
Speaker
um And i was fortunate to have some really great bosses along the way. And so at one point I just felt like, like it was great. I was being creative. i was able to create patterns, but I was basically, I was always creating patterns to fit whatever the trend was.
00:12:56
Speaker
So at one point I approached my boss and said, um what do you think if I work for 10 hour days and take Fridays off? And, um, you know, you don't know until you ask.
00:13:07
Speaker
This is my theory on everything. i ask yeah And I said, I'll stay available. So if there's an emergency, I'll come in I'll check my email. And she said, well, let's do one month test.
00:13:20
Speaker
And then it ended up going on like that for a couple of years.
Cultural Immersion in Budapest
00:13:23
Speaker
And so on that Friday that I had off, I would paint silk. So, um, I'd wake up and I started painting yards and yards of silk and making silk pillows and then going to fairs and selling my silk pillows. And so,
00:13:41
Speaker
um But eventually, my husband and I, had we both loved to travel, and we wanted to live overseas longer. like We wanted to live somewhere that we felt part of the community. So we didn't feel so much like tourists.
00:14:00
Speaker
So we didn't tell anybody that was our goal. So when we sprung it on, our our parents and our friends, they're like, wow, where did this come from? But for like five years, we were saving our money and making all of our decisions were based off of an end date when we were going to move.
00:14:17
Speaker
So in 2008 was the first time I like to say that I've re-bloomed because we both quit our jobs and we moved to Budapest, Hungary. Wow. Okay. Now what made you go there? That's huge. that's know I'm going to put a pin in a map and here's what made, what made you think of Budapest, Hungary? Why?
00:14:37
Speaker
um Well, we had we'd been traveling around Europe and Hungary wasn't and still isn't on the euro. So it was a bit cheaper to move to for us.
00:14:48
Speaker
And then location wise, it's kind of in the middle of Europe. And we have very close friends in Estonia and we had been to Croatia and then we we' had been to Western Europe.
00:15:00
Speaker
And so this was sort of a very nice central location so we could hop on a plane and go anywhere from there. And then the other thing is Hungary has amazing folk arts. And um you go to different villages within the country and they have a completely different style of embroidery and a different flower that they represent in their crafts. And the folk arts just blew me away. it sounds dreamy. Yeah. And you can still, I think, see a Hungarian influence a lot of times in my work.
00:15:32
Speaker
just because it really was, it impacted my life on so many levels. Um, so. How long were you there? long did you live there? Four years.
00:15:44
Speaker
Wow. Is that longer than you anticipated? We said three to five. Okay. Um, or that's what we told ourselves. We didn't really tell our family that. yeah Um, so, but to ourselves it was three to five and, um,
00:16:01
Speaker
And, you know, i it was, it was hard to come back. It was kind of a big decision. It was kind of strange to come back to Seattle. yeah But, but it was good. And it was a great time in my life to return.
00:16:17
Speaker
um And I love, absolutely loved living in a, in a different country. That sounds amazing. Now, did you have to learn the language and everything be part of the community like you wanted?
00:16:32
Speaker
i really um i really tried, but um their language is very, very difficult. It doesn't sound like Spanish or English or French or even Italian or German. It's in a language category of its own with Finnish and Estonian.
00:16:51
Speaker
And so I tried, but it was... So the short answer is no.
00:16:58
Speaker
But you were able to make form a community and make friends there. Yeah. I mean, um i met a ton of artists and most of them spoke English.
00:17:11
Speaker
um And then I just, you know, there's something about living in a foreign country. For me, i felt anonymous in a really healthy way. Like it was so easy to be me Because nobody knew me.
00:17:30
Speaker
yeah i don't I don't know. like feel that way now as I've got, once I hit 50, I kind of feel that way again. yeah and so it was nice to have that taste when I was younger to just be able to like, yeah, I just didn't really care because nobody knew who I was.
Challenges of Starting a Business in Hungary
00:17:49
Speaker
Yeah. so like yeah it was nice. So you're over there, you're inspired by the folk art. What else is happening to you artistically while you're there for four years?
00:18:00
Speaker
So my goal was to start up a business developing um home textiles, pillows, and um kitchen linens, and to have them um be made in the Hungarian countryside because they do great like ah embroidery and lace and felt work.
00:18:20
Speaker
And but with an American um point of view, right, because I wanted to sell it back to the American market. And, you know, the part of being kind of naive and like open to everything, I was so naive, not knowing the language I was able to overcome because you can hire people to help you navigate that.
00:18:44
Speaker
But. Like I remember going into one village and they're like, well, this is the tulip that we embroider. So we'll embroider this on your textiles. And I'm like, but I want different flowers and paisleys and shapes.
00:18:57
Speaker
And it was like, no, we just do the red tulip. So at that time I was starting to think, okay, how do I make money?
00:19:09
Speaker
Cause I'm spending a lot of money trying to start this business up. And so i reached out to an agent in New York who sells artwork to apparel companies and stuff.
00:19:24
Speaker
It's not a licensing agent. It's an art agent. So I reached out to him and we started working together. And um that has been a really great relationship. I still work for him now.
00:19:37
Speaker
And so that's sort of got me doing some freelance work and creating some patterns of my own. And then I eventually learned about licensing.
00:19:48
Speaker
But I kind of want to fast forward two um my next rebloom because I feel like I'm blooming right now. Yes, you are are indeed.
Art Residency in France: Focus and Inspiration
00:19:59
Speaker
If your viewers could only see my smile and my face, I seriously feel like I'm a son right now. hi I could see it in all of the reels that you were posting. I'm like, she is having moment. I totally understand because I was there also. So share. So, um,
00:20:17
Speaker
yeah so um I had wanted to apply to this residency called Chateau Orcavo. Can you tell our non-arty listeners, our non-artist listeners, what a residency is for you? What does that mean? Okay. So I feel like people get retreats and residencies confused.
00:20:39
Speaker
So a retreat, um You go to, you typically have an instructor and it's a guided project, right? So everybody, you're going to make birds or you're going to go paint or you're going to go block print.
00:20:51
Speaker
A residency is self-directed. So you go somewhere, you bring your art supplies and you have a project you've given yourself and you're not collaborate, typical, my experience was, I wasn't collaborating or being taught by anybody else. I came with a project.
00:21:11
Speaker
So it gave me two weeks to focus on building ah body of artwork that I've been dreaming about. Right. hi Does that make sense? It does. It does.
00:21:23
Speaker
So you go to France, yeah um art supplies in tow. First off, I did not think I would get in. and you got I got in and I got in the day Lori was getting on the plane to leave to start her residency there. while that That's crazy. Yeah. um So I just got back. I was there um basically the month of April, two weeks in at the Chateau.
00:21:54
Speaker
And then I stayed and did some traveling. Okay, so I want to ask the question, before you got on the plane or as you were dreaming about it, as you were preparing for it what was the dream? um
00:22:08
Speaker
I think it, like, I had an idea of the work I wanted to to develop. But I think I, to have quiet, um,
00:22:25
Speaker
And I have been following the Chateau on Instagram, which is maybe good or bad. I'm not sure which. Because at first I was like, maybe i shouldn't be watching all their reels of the experiences of other artists because my experience is going to be different.
00:22:39
Speaker
But then I was like, no, I can't stop watching. I was the same. Same. Yeah. So um I really... I really wasn't sure. I did think i was going to create a tremendous amount of work.
00:22:55
Speaker
And I didn't, I did only a fraction of what I thought I would get done. Um, and then I thought I'd meet, you know, a couple of really cool people.
00:23:06
Speaker
That was kind of it. Yeah. But it, it's, it just surpassed all my expectations. Like two weeks of,
00:23:20
Speaker
ah It was, it sounds so hokey, but it was truly a magical experience. And to have two weeks of, um like, to be able to focus on making art and no interruptions. I didn't have to walk the dog. I don't have kids, so I don't have as many interruptions as someone who has kids at home.
00:23:46
Speaker
But I didn't have to get up and walk the dog. I didn't have to make my own lunch. And then, you know, I never realized how much time I think about what's for dinner. Yeah. And there you have a chef just lay it out in front of you.
00:24:01
Speaker
Yes. Nobody's asking what's for dinner. i don't have to say, hey, can you make me a cheeseburger? ah cheeseburger just shows up. like So just all of the free space in my head. And...
00:24:16
Speaker
Going in April, you know, things um with the tariffs and stuff had just kind of really started to ramp up. And it was really nice to kind of escape all of that.
00:24:29
Speaker
um I was reading headlines of what was trying to stay up to date with all the political stuff happening here. And then eventually I just told Steve, my husband, and said, I'm i'm not looking at the news. Just let me know if there's something that i really need to know about.
00:24:45
Speaker
And so I completely escaped. And this town, they say that there's a population of 70, but I only saw three people that I had not met. so i mean Wow.
00:24:56
Speaker
Wow. so you're that you're there, you're immersed. Is the project that you thought, so you, I know you didn't, I know you said you didn't create as much as you thought, but you had an idea.
00:25:08
Speaker
who and yeah, I, um, i um I have been working um on block prints. I've kind of been dabbling in block printing for forever.
00:25:21
Speaker
um i mean, at Lori's retreats, I've always, block printing has always ended up creeping in here and there. in all my work, it kind of creeps in. And I think, um like at the beginning of COVID, I did a deep dive into block printing because we had time.
00:25:38
Speaker
um i like to say, That's something pivotal happens happens in my life when either life kicks me out of my lane or it gives me space to think whether I want it or not.
00:25:50
Speaker
So, for instance, COVID did this. And then kind of today with all the tariff uncertainty, business has slowed down. And so it's all terrifying.
00:26:02
Speaker
And personally, I'm talking about this. It's terrifying and exciting all at once. Like I worry about my licensing business and ah have this time to continue the work that I started at the Chateau.
00:26:16
Speaker
and so I've, I'm, I'm really, um
00:26:25
Speaker
I feel invincible with art right now. I don't know if that's the right word, but like, I feel solid you know no not No, not at all. yeah and you like you I've been watching over the last several years of you just coming closer and closer, being in your in your zone, and then seeing what you were making in France, I'm like, oh, yeah.
00:26:55
Speaker
It was incredible. she She's going crazy now with what she's been wanting to do, and it's so fun to watch. And, you know, i I didn't get as much done as I thought I would, but it doesn't mean that I didn't work 100% of the time. right I ended up just doing these very intense, large block prints that took a long, long time. yeah And I would have never taken that time and done that here in Seattle, just because there's so many things that interrupt. I don't ever have
00:27:32
Speaker
eight hours or five hours at a time to sit down and like focus on a project. So that's what a residency gives you permission to do. yeah Yeah. It gives you permission to spend all day long in the studio and just, yeah, that's what's so dreamy about it.
00:27:51
Speaker
And in this particular residency, I mean, the chateau, the staff, the chef, everything was perfect. But what made it even more perfect or the other artists that I met.
00:28:07
Speaker
There were 24 or 25 of us, artists, writers, poets, musicians. And I made an effort every night to sit at a different place at a table so that I could talk.
00:28:18
Speaker
I got a chance to talk to everybody at dinner. And I really feel like we all connected on some level.
00:28:28
Speaker
And so, and that, encouragement. And I mean, i just, I felt so supported artistically.
00:28:43
Speaker
Like I was surrounded by 24 Lories.
00:28:49
Speaker
it's amazing though That's amazing So the bot so the the work that you created, how does it differ from what you were doing? what is it what Okay. So there's three things that I have kind of and thought ah I thought a lot about at the Chateau on why am I drawn to this. And there's three things that I love. Texture.
00:29:09
Speaker
So I'm doing block printing, but then I'm adding hand stitching on top of it. And I've always, so there's that sewing piece, right? It's the grandma quilting. It's the fashion design background. But I like something about puncturing paper. So I love stitching paper.
00:29:24
Speaker
So I'm doing the block print and then I'm adding stitching on top of it. So texture is important. um pattern is obviously important. So I'm sort of inspired by the collection I'm working on right now. It's like, if you think of old wallpaper that's tattered and it's kind of falling apart, you see other layers and other
Artistic Process: Texture, Pattern, and Process
00:29:45
Speaker
layers. yeah I love that visual look of ah kind of a history of a wall, you know, then no um so pattern and then process.
00:29:57
Speaker
And I've really thought a lot about process. I love art that has process. So silk painting, which I did for over 10 years, has a lot of process. Like you wash your silk, you treat the silk, you stretch the silk, you put your resist on, you paint the silk, then you got to set the dyes.
00:30:17
Speaker
And block printing is the same. I sand my linoleum, I paint the linoleum, I carve the linoleum, you know, and then I print it and now I'm stitching it. So I love things that have multiple steps. So texture, process and pattern are my, like, it gets me excited.
00:30:37
Speaker
yeah I think about the pieces you did when we were at Les Sores and ah they had all of those things in them. Totally. like they Yeah, she did the most beautiful pieces that had block printing and stitching and old photographs and pattern. And they're they're they're beautiful pieces.
00:30:58
Speaker
And I don't like glue and tape. So i everything is stitched. I love that. oh I still like glue and tape. She don't know what it's going to do later. you know Yeah, true. Not that I'm thinking archival stuff.
00:31:13
Speaker
Because really, it only needs to be as archival as my life. But it could still could still fall apart. I mean, it still absolutely could. So, you know, it's interesting. I've got a question about um you doing all of these things. Okay, no, wait, I totally lost my thought.
00:31:30
Speaker
I had a really good question. This is what happens when we get older, too. I had a really good one. All right. Well, Molly, After thinking, all i I'll talk about what I wanted to mention. So you are also teaching block printing. So that's been another yes little pivot or re-bloom that you've been doing over the last few years as well.
00:31:50
Speaker
Yes. And um I had been, so I've taught at a college level. I've taught um textile design and I've taught portfolio design.
00:32:00
Speaker
And I enjoy the teaching part of college, but I hate the grading part. i Absolutely. i am not. I don't want students turn their work in. And so so i found kind of the perfect place for me.
00:32:15
Speaker
So last February, um after making a commitment verbally to a bunch of artists that I was going to attack block printing classes in my home studio,
00:32:29
Speaker
um I started teaching. So that was February 24. And now I teach two to three days a month.
00:32:40
Speaker
And um I teach a basic block printing class. And then I teach some beyond the basics and block printing on fabric. And I adore it. I love having people in my space.
00:32:53
Speaker
I love, i love the beginning block printing class because A lot of times people may be block printed back in high school, but a lot of times they'll say, oh, I'm not creative. I just, I'm looking for a hobby.
00:33:10
Speaker
And so it's so great to see someone get excited when they've like, they're carving their block. They're not a hundred percent sure how this is going to turn out. And then they make the first print and they're like, oh my gosh, I did a block print.
00:33:23
Speaker
like, yeah. I just, I love seeing that. excitement of that creative voice wakening up in them. So yeah, that's the best.
00:33:34
Speaker
Well, your studio is a bit of rebloom as well, because yeah you like I was talking to you in the very beginning stages of that. And now you this beautiful space. do you want to talk about that a little bit?
00:33:48
Speaker
Sure. um So um Steve and I moved into this house in 2018 and the house is 850 square feet and then it has a detached garage which was about 650 square feet and our goal was always to remodel the garage and so that's where I'm sitting right now um and it it is 650 square feet of my studio we have a little sauna and a kitchenette and there are windows everywhere. So it's really bright and happy.
00:34:27
Speaker
And um so this is where my classes are. Yeah. It's beautiful. It's such a pretty space. It is. Lovely. It's lovely. Let's take a quick minute and thank our amazing sponsors.
00:34:41
Speaker
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00:34:53
Speaker
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00:35:35
Speaker
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00:35:41
Speaker
Okay, so I remember my question. um i was thinking as you have been just bubbling over and just so excited about this residency, do you feel that when you create just for the joy of it, like you were doing in France, that there's a difference? I mean, I feel I'm just when you talk about it.
00:36:00
Speaker
And that's what I know when I create my florals, I do it just for me. And it's just so fun. And that to me, that's like, I love it. I'm not doing it for anybody else. And I mean, I do want them to do something, but it's just, it's just, it's so freeing. to I'm just sort of curious about that versus some of the other things that were more deliberate that you had to do.
00:36:24
Speaker
um maybe I think though, I think i yes, I totally enjoy what I'm doing. um and I I don't want to say I don't care if anybody else likes it because like do care.
00:36:45
Speaker
Yeah. But I think I've always, you know, that there's just, there's so many things that happened during the residency. um I mean, you're going to think this was really funny, maybe.
00:37:00
Speaker
um At one point, there was a group of us sitting outside. And I can't remember how the topic came up, but we were talking about being artists. And I made some comment of, well, I'm not, I'm not really an artist.
00:37:17
Speaker
And they were like, huh? And I said, well, I'm not. um I mean, I'm an artist. But like in my day job, I'm drawing gnomes and Santas and, you know, like I'm not like a fine artist.
00:37:31
Speaker
And they're like, they were lost. They're like, okay, we need to have an intervention with you because we've seen what you're working on upstairs. And I don't know what you call that if that's not the work of an artist.
00:37:41
Speaker
Right. Huge intervention. Right. So I think that hearing this from all these amazing artists, right? Like you're crazy.
00:37:52
Speaker
Um, I think something happened to where I began to feel like I could break the rules that I had already set for myself. So like artistic rules, like in block printing, like you want a perfect reproduction, um like kind of thinking from the purest of a printmaker.
00:38:15
Speaker
And once I had this
00:38:20
Speaker
this intervention with these now very good friends of mine, and um something in me just said, well, I can, I don't have to do a perfect reproduction and I can poke holes in the paper and I can rip it and I can cut it and I can tear it and I can, and that then kind of freed me of whatever box I was putting myself in as a block printer.
00:38:44
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It does. it's It's like, I saw that when we were in San Miguel, where you were, we were talking about things that you had been pitching to one of our client are both. We have this client ah jointly. Well,
00:39:02
Speaker
Separately, but jointly. yeah and And you were making these beautiful things. And I said, why don't you show that? could So I i think you you have had been separating maybe the work that you do for licensing to make money from the work that you do that just brings you joy and lights you up. Yeah.
00:39:24
Speaker
Yeah. And I feel like you've been on this journey. I don't know if I'm wrong, but I've been watching you do things more and more that just purely light you up and you're, you're just excited about.
00:39:38
Speaker
i am really excited. And if I could do anything all day long, sorry, Jamie, I would just carve, I would just do block printing all day long and stitch paper.
00:39:50
Speaker
Like, That's I want to do. Well, then I think something magical comes from that. And you don't know, you won't know what it is right now. Yeah. You know, but get so many guests of ours have said that, that they just started doing something they were called to do by their heart.
00:40:07
Speaker
Right. And then it ended up evolving into something that they never, ever dreamed could happen. yeah Yeah, I mean, I think it's, I think it, and I think where I was going with that question too, is it's just all of us exploring our creative freedoms.
00:40:21
Speaker
it yeah We do care. We do care what other people think, but when I'm just allowed to be free and to do what I want creatively, it it's it's not only fulfilling in the moment, but it's fulfilling.
00:40:34
Speaker
i mean, I create a better body of work too. i create things that, and and that's what I see in what you've done since you've been in, for I mean, it's just this freedom, this whole, I'm like, what happened over there? yeah I rebloomed. You rebloomed. Before I started coming out of my cocoon.
00:40:52
Speaker
Yeah. don't feel like I've rebloomed yet. I feel like it's all, I'm in the, I'm in the middle of that process, right? Yeah. Well, i think when we put our your i think we I think whether we have to professionally or however we do it, we we put boundaries up or we put parameters to your point. And when we break the rules, that's when we really start to break through and see some differences. And three cheers for the rule breakers. I mean, I love them.
00:41:20
Speaker
yeah um And sometimes they're self-imposed rules like you were talking about. yeah Sometimes we do things because we think that's what we're supposed to because of comments somebody made along the way or whatever. But we also put a lot of rules on ourselves. yeah And it's nice when you start breaking those and you know you get closer to who you really, really are inside.
00:41:46
Speaker
Yeah. the the I keep trying to the energy that I still have from the residency, I don't want to let it go. you know, i want to keep it like that fire in me.
00:41:58
Speaker
I want to keep that flame really big. And so I've been trying to like, um, look at things doing daily habits and really trying to engage in the local printmaking community here in Seattle. I'm trying to like, just keep that,
00:42:20
Speaker
sense of creative community going that I had at the residency. um And then teaching more block printing classes because I really want to, I want to like ignite people.
00:42:33
Speaker
yeah i want to like pass the, pass the, a little bit of what I feel if I can get somebody to have that excitement about themselves um Yeah.
00:42:45
Speaker
That's the best thing about teaching.
Block Printing Workshop Announcement
00:42:47
Speaker
It's that, like you shared that moment when they surprise themselves. That's the best. Yeah. I would, um I am, if it's okay to mention, um I am teaching a big workshop. My first big one.
00:43:02
Speaker
When and where? Yes, Japan. It's October next year. so October, 2020. Artist Rising. And, um, Connecticut, that's where I painted the camper.
00:43:17
Speaker
Ah, very nice at Pat's. Yes. Very nice. And, um, I i had a, I had a pretty general idea of what I was going to teach before I went to France, but now I have the whole, like I have everything planned out in my head because,
00:43:37
Speaker
I want to recreate my residency. Yeah. But on a more um approachable, I won't say a smaller scale, but ah and ah a little bit of a different twist on it so that it can be approachable for anybody who doesn't have any block printing experience.
00:43:56
Speaker
Right. But I love what I did there and I loved all the pieces that I did. So that's my goal. so I love it. Sign me up. i'm goingnna is Is it is that live yet?
00:44:07
Speaker
It is. It's on the website. Awesome. b Are we back to back? We are. Yeah. Cause I'm teaching there. And then stay for mine. I'll do a residency. I'll do a residency with Lori and with Diane. So that's for everyone out there. We can go to, and it's a gorgeous, it's a gorgeous space in Connecticut. Beautiful. beautiful Oh, that is going to be incredible.
00:44:31
Speaker
That's going to be incredible. Oh, what a neat opportunity. And it's far away. I feel like I can, um, I want to kind of work on a couple of projects and get people excited. and Yeah.
00:44:44
Speaker
So. Oh, incredible. So the work that you've, that you started in France, are you, and you said you're continuing the practice, are you continuing it it Are you going to plan to show it or? So, um, the great thing about the residency, the other great thing is that Biola, one of the founders, um, she,
00:45:06
Speaker
owned a gallery in Hong Kong. And so she sits down and she gives like, uh, advice on how to approach a gallery, how many pieces you need. And she had the whole ah afternoon called the art of the business of art. Is that what was called? And so, um, so I had never thought I would want a gallery show ever.
00:45:27
Speaker
Like that has never crossed my mind. Cause you know, I'm not an artist. and um are yes you are yeah i am now yeah And so um I don't have enough work right now.
00:45:39
Speaker
And some of the pieces that I finished at the Chateau were really kind of in my mind, i don't want to say a prototype, but they, I worked through the, the creative obstacle that I had.
00:45:54
Speaker
And so now I want to create it in a bigger, better, way so right now I'm working on pieces with the idea that yes I will once I get enough pieces together then I will spend a fortune in having them framed and then um approach some galleries that's amazing that's exciting yeah kind of scary so now I've said it so now I will hold myself accountable we're all going you accountable it's out the universe now yes careful what you put out there i know Well, you're incredible. You know, I think it's so, it's so interesting.
00:46:32
Speaker
You're this beautiful artist. I mean, I watched you create stuff and paint stuff when we were together last September and like whips out flowers and whips, you know, I'm like, what do you mean you're not an artist? but And you went, you went to school to for, art I mean, for fashion, but also art and had this brilliant career and,
00:46:51
Speaker
And it's funny what the work the what we tell ourselves sometimes. And and it's like, no, we're all we're all creative. We're all artists. We're all in our own way. But you are really and truly an artist. She's incredible. If you ever watch her work, it's it's amazing. amazing i' I am proud to identify as an artist now. Yes.
00:47:11
Speaker
i I get where you were coming from, though, because when I was at the residency, I felt like everybody had a real serious meaning behind their work. And my work tends to just be happy, colorful flowers.
00:47:27
Speaker
But the thing that happened there is I i was supported for that. You know, yeah like I went in feeling like, oh, I'm you know, I'm not like them. I'm not.
00:47:39
Speaker
I don't have as much meaning to my work. And they were like, joy is a meaning. And that's what you're working. So yeah, that, that support that you got there too is, I know it's another part of the puzzle.
00:47:51
Speaker
Are you going to go back? I want to. yeah i dont want to go. i need to apply. Will they take photographers? Do they take photographers? Oh yeah. There was a photographer in the group when I went. I need to apply.
00:48:02
Speaker
I would love, I would love to go. I mean, I think what you said though is so important, even if it's just, even if your residency is just something that you carve out for yourself and you set time aside for yourself in the quiet and the space. I think that's a really important lesson to have. Well, I have friends who they take themselves on a residency. They'll like rent out a cabin somewhere in the woods and just go for even a couple days.
00:48:31
Speaker
and so Well, I want to go with the chefs and the... yeah I mean, know, that sounds... I may or may not have gained six pounds from the amount of croissants you give her to play. Oh, my God. it sounds amazing. It sounds amazing.
00:48:46
Speaker
Well, Diane, you know, one of the things that we'd love to ask ask our guests, do you... Have you been given advice or do you like to give advice to maybe some of your students um that we could share with our listeners? Yeah.
00:49:05
Speaker
Well, advice I give to my students is that nobody's grading you. Like there's, the like, this is just, this is just play. Right. Yeah. um But I do think there are two quotes that i I really resonate with me. One, have said to myself over and over again for, I don't know how long and that one, and I don't know who said this. So um probably somebody who's like an inspirational speaker, I'm going to guess, but I have no idea where I heard it. And then look it up.
00:49:41
Speaker
Opportunities are often lost waiting for perfect conditions. Because, you know, like for instance, when I meet somebody who's, they're just, they're putting together their website and they're putting together their business, but they haven't taken the leap to like expose, like to like take their website live and really like open it up. They're just got the pieces going behind the scenes. I'm like, I hate to tell this to you, but no, like if you make your website live right now, nobody knows.
00:50:13
Speaker
Right. go live yeah yeah And that you know, you're not famous. I mean, right nobody that I'm talking to is famous. Nobody is going to be like, oh my gosh, Diane went live.
00:50:26
Speaker
Like, yeah. i'm spelling her Yeah. Yeah. yeah will not Start ringing immediately. Just sort of just jump and do it.
00:50:37
Speaker
um And then this one I really like um ships are safe in the harbor, but that's not what ships are built for Ooh, that one gave me chills.
Taking Risks and Embracing Opportunities
00:50:48
Speaker
That's a good one. Yeah. Those were both green. Those are both green. Oh, I may have to use that in my words in wildflowers.
00:50:58
Speaker
love that one. It's good one because, you know, it's just, I mean, take the risk. Yeah. Take the risk. And I love that you took the risk and you went to France and we love that you take, you took the risks all the way along and you're an incredible artist. Thank you so much for spending time with us today.
00:51:19
Speaker
you so much. We're so glad you were here. for You guys, we got to get together and make art again. i know we know and And we hope that our listeners will certainly follow. We'll have all Diane's links. You must follow her and watch her, see her new work that she did in France. Cause it's absolutely stunning.
00:51:38
Speaker
So thank you all. Peace, love and re bloom. Life is too short not to follow your passions. So go out there and let your heart plant you where you are meant to be and grow your joy.
00:51:50
Speaker
We will be right here sharing more incredible stories of reinvention with you. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast so you never miss an episode of Rebloom.
00:52:01
Speaker
Until next time, I'm Jamie Jameson. And I'm Lori Siebert. Peace, love and Rebloom, dear friends.