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About the Artist, Dianne McGhee
I was influenced by the stained glass art of family friends,
Chris Payne and his wife, Vicki Payne, who is now an icon
in the industry. After taking a class in the fundamentals of stained glass, I was quickly hooked on the art.
I've always tried to be an out of the box kind of thinker and
was never satisfied with doing what everyone else was doing. So in an attempt to come up with my own style and to be non-traditional, I quickly embraced the saying,
"I don't do windows".
True to my word, I developed a style of unique designs free of the influence of ready made patterns and let the glass talk to me instead.
My finished art was one of free form glass, funky twisted wire, and decorative soldering which quickly became my signature style.
After several years of selling wholesale to retail shops throughout the
country, I was beginning to feel burned out in the process.
I had picked up a paint brush and discovered a peace and relaxation through painting that my glass art was not providing for me. However, I still needed to help contribute to the income so kept plugging away at my glass.
Somewhere in the middle of all this, I started to fuse glass which gave me some new flexibility to be more creative in my glass art. I started creating these whimsical characters with fused faces and stained glass bodies. But somewhere in the distance all I really wanted to do was paint.
I had picked up a paint brush and discovered a peace and relaxation through painting that my glass art was not providing for me. However, I still needed to help contribute to the income so kept plugging away at my glass.
Somewhere in the middle of all this, I started to fuse glass which gave me some new flexibility to be more creative in my glass art. I started creating these whimsical characters with fused faces and stained glass bodies. But somewhere in the distance all I really wanted to do was paint.
Then came the paintings. I was still creating glass art but was also offering little paintings I was creating on miniature blocks of wood. I've always been drawn to faces and the stories they tell in their many expressions. The paintings of my girls quickly caught on and I was in
love with my new found sideline of art.
I was starting to feel like my Groovy Glass name was defining and limiting me as an artist.
I wanted to be able to offer my folk artsy style of painting, but didn't feel it fit in with the more whimsical style of my glass art.
I recently discovered the art of glass painting. Although it's been around for centuries, it's a pretty limited art form. In the past, it has been centered around traditional church windows and not really
recognized anywhere else. Staying true to my unconventional way of creating art, I discovered I could paint my girls, still in miniature form, on small pieces of glass that could be worn as original pieces of jewelry or displayed as miniature pieces of art.
With my new found glass paintings I was able to create a marriage of my two loves, glass and
painting and decided to create the name Vintage Raven to showcase this side of my art.
Currently my focus is painting on glass. It just feels like what I'm supposed to be doing right now. Although I'm not offering my stained glass art at this time, it's still very much a part of who I am as an artist.
There is a saying that goes, If you're not changing, you're not growing. Right now, I think I'm having a growth spurt, and it feels good. My hope is that my art reflects that joy and that it will make you
feel good too.
love with my new found sideline of art.
I was starting to feel like my Groovy Glass name was defining and limiting me as an artist.
I wanted to be able to offer my folk artsy style of painting, but didn't feel it fit in with the more whimsical style of my glass art.
I recently discovered the art of glass painting. Although it's been around for centuries, it's a pretty limited art form. In the past, it has been centered around traditional church windows and not really
recognized anywhere else. Staying true to my unconventional way of creating art, I discovered I could paint my girls, still in miniature form, on small pieces of glass that could be worn as original pieces of jewelry or displayed as miniature pieces of art.
With my new found glass paintings I was able to create a marriage of my two loves, glass and
painting and decided to create the name Vintage Raven to showcase this side of my art.
Currently my focus is painting on glass. It just feels like what I'm supposed to be doing right now. Although I'm not offering my stained glass art at this time, it's still very much a part of who I am as an artist.
There is a saying that goes, If you're not changing, you're not growing. Right now, I think I'm having a growth spurt, and it feels good. My hope is that my art reflects that joy and that it will make you
feel good too.
