In the Gallery

MARCH-APRIL

Paintings by Diana Rice

Diana Rice is a fine artist who specializes in portraits of animals. Interpreting the energies that clients feel in their pets, she considers each subject's "character" to be the skeleton of each piece. The subject is painted in an expressive realist style and breathes in complex ambient patterns that describe personality and slip in and out of abstract expressionism. Her landscapes, gesture drawings, and woodcuts are a further exploration of the relationship betwen the material world and the ephemeral, mysterious, shining world that holds our attention and makes the material world relevant.
For more information, please visit her website at www.dianariceart.com.

MAY-JUNE

Paintings by Heather Balchunas

Heather Balchunas, originally from Westfield, MA received her Associate Degree
from Greenfield Community College in 1994 and a BFA in illustration from
Massachusetts College of Art in 1997. Some of her artistic influences are
Georgia O’Keefe, Kandinsky, Edward Hopper, and Brian Froud. Balchunas feels it
is this diverse mix that motivates, inspires, and encourages her to explore.
Led into other directions within the art community, Balchunas has found further
creative stimulation by working with various theatrical and film companies such
as the BCA, Wheelock Family Theatre, Behind the Mask Theater, the Puppet
Showplace , and Twenty American Dollars Films. Her most recent endeavors include
interior murals for family rooms and nurseries. To her, everything is relative. Whether it
is puppet construction, theater, set design, painting, or storyboarding, one
creative process influences another.
Despite the many creative outlets, drawing is still Balchunas' first love while
investing herself into each unique project drives her growth as an artist. "It
is all about the process," she says. "The learning and the struggling to find
inspiration so that by the end you've enjoyed the journey."