Diane trained in fashion design at ECA in the 80’s, where she learned that music, art and fashion all blended in together – Brian Ferry on the Juke box, fancy dress parties, night clubs, blue hair, vintage jewellery, old curtains and politics, all contribute to the zeitgeist. ID magazine – street fashion – DIY punk, new romantic glamour, photography and styling, were all her main influences. Diane’s connections between music and fashion influenced her designs in richly embossed fabrics and simple silhouettes, which are now apparent in her paintings. They are fashion designs from her sketchbooks in a large, loose, bold and colourful style. Her paintings – ‘imagined people’ are in 4 different media; watercolour (delicate and realistic); acrylic and collage (semi abstract); oils (layers of rich colour) and stitched (mini sculptures). Diane aspires to paint images which represent fashion and style and its positive influence on people who enjoy being creative with their identity and the freedom it can give. She questions the boundaries of the human body and how fabric, colour and pattern can be used to be experimental and even sculptural.