Past Artists - Dianne Bersea

Dianne has been a professional artist for 30 years with creative beginnings in the wild places of Canada’s western province, including a riverside log cabin nestled in the Okanogan Mountains and a lighthouse station on the blustery outer coast of Vancouver Island. Home-schooled on a emergency air base in the open grassland of the Fraser Plateau, Dianne grew up among the wild animals, grasslands and forests of BC central plateau.

"I still have a great fondness for all that I encountered in my earliest years -- the rich, deep mysteries of the rainforest, and the expanse of warm color in rangeland and high plateau. It's no wonder that I love having a close, immediate relationship with my physical and emotional landscape."

Despite occasional urban residencies, Dianne has always sought her most meaningful home-places in the deep lake valleys or isolated islands of the B.C. Coast. Now a partner in Manzanita Muse Studio on Cortes Island, Dianne explores her environment through a variety of media, including watercolor, acrylic, pen & ink, pencils, watercolor pencils and watercolor crayons. "I'm really in the mood to experiment right now. I can see my work changing in the near future. More depth, more richness."

Dianne brings to all her work the knowledge and discipline of careers in graphic design, fine art, natural history illustration, and, exhibit design for Canada’s national parks. She is also an accomplished watercolor painter and workshop presenter. Dianne inspires students with her unabashed enthusiasm, humor and knowledge of the creative process. She lives and works on Cortes Island in B.C.’s northern Gulf Islands.