Upper Lake >> Many artists shy away from watercolors because of the transparency — once you make a mistake, there’s really no going back. But Lake County Wine Studio (LCWS) artist of the month Diana Liebe embraces the medium for exactly that reason.
“I love the mistakes because I call them happy accidents,” she said. “And really the mistakes actually help you grow and help you discover new things when painting in watercolors.”
With the light material, a mishap can open new doors Liebe never saw before, taking her in an unexpected but exciting direction. There’s a certain freedom to the medium, in the way that luminosity and light shine so easily through paintings.
As with most artists, Liebe has been satiating her creative instincts her entire life, through drawing and painting, woodworking and sewing. “I guess it just came from my parents. My parents are both creative so that’s how I first got creative,” she said. “It was something that I could express myself in easily.”
Then at eight years old, she received her first art award. But, being eight, she hadn’t quite discovered watercolors. Back then she used poster paint to enter a poster competition for a shop local event in Ukiah. She may have been young, but that competition launched a life-long art career.
Liebe obtained a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, but she’s also self-taught in some ways, too. She paints on fabrics, an art she began back in the ‘70s with the then-popular mod fashion. She then stumbled onto the art of silk-painting and taught herself that, too. Since moving to Lake County, Liebe has hand-painted and sold over one thousand pieces of clothing.
She possesses a California Teaching Credential which allows her to teach arts and home crafts at any grade. She leads a number of sip and paint classes around the county every month and also instructs a beginning watercolor class at the Main Street Gallery in Lakeport regularly.
While she loves the paint, the teaching is an equally important part of her life. She finds great joy in showing people that they can be creative, even if they believe they don’t have an artistic bone in their body. “It’s like therapy, it’s art therapy, and that’s why I’m an artist,” Liebe said. “I absolutely love sharing what I can do and what I know how to do, how it impacts other people’s lives and how happy it makes other people.”
Liebe’s show at the wine studio — which features watercolor images, painted fabrics and silk scarves — doesn’t have a set theme, but rather encompasses the past year of her artistic adventures. Inspired by the feelings and emotions of life, her work is bright and colorful.
The LCWS, located at 9505 Main St. Upper Lake, is holding an art reception for Liebe tonight from 4-7 p.m. Wines from Alienor Cellars paired with appetizers by Chic Le Chef will also be served.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
