Spring Break, mixed media on wood panel
-Diane, we'd love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today, both personally and as an artist.
Persistence. After two technical careers (Network Engineering & Biotech), I finally gave myself permission to dive into art full time. I had waited long enough to honor that creative side of myself, fully. But looking back, the impulse was always there. As a child, I was constantly making things—coloring masks, drawing, exploring, painting in college. As an adult, I continued by taking community art courses while working.
What made all the difference was mentorship. I was incredibly fortunate to find more than one extraordinary mentor—each with decades of classical training—who generously took me under their wing (they are mentioned by name on my website). They not only passed on technical skill and aesthetic sensibility, but perhaps most importantly, a philosophy in how they go about their thought process as they are creating work, specifically, and, in general, about what it means to make art. That lineage shaped me and continues to guide everything I do in the studio today.
Zebra, acrylic on wood panel
-How does the process of observing light whether it’s on a body or in a landscape help you stay present with what’s in front of you?
Observing light — whether on a body or in a landscape — pulls me into the present moment. It demands immediacy, asking me to respond quickly and instinctively, before the light shifts. There's no time to overthink — it’s all about feeling and capturing. I’m especially drawn to the contrast light creates — the push and pull of light and shadow not only defines form but emphasizes movement. With a gesture, I feel that contrast becomes dynamic energy. It’s where stillness and motion meet, I let that tension drive my work.
Somewhat Fractured, acrylic on wood panel
-One of the striking things about your figurative work is how confidently you shift between detail and abstraction. How do you decide where to hold on tight and where to let go?
For me, it’s about emotion and emphasis. I tend to hold on tight where I want the viewer to linger — the curve of the back, the tilt of the head. Those areas ask for detail because they carry the weight of the moment. Abstraction gives the rest of the piece room to breathe, flow. Letting go — through loose brushwork or gestural marks — allows me to convey movement, memory, energy, beauty (which IS an emotion!), or the passage of time. It’s never fully planned; it’s an instinctual, intuitive push and pull that unfolds as the painting evolves.
Splash, mixed media on wood panel
-You say each moment asks for something different…oil, charcoal, ink. How do you know what the moment is asking for?
That’s a tough one—because, at first, I don’t. I try not to overthink it. I let my hand grab what it wants, and the model’s pose or energy begins to guide the rest. A bold, grounded stance might call for willow charcoal and big swaths of Chinese ink, while a delicate, airy gesture might ask for a single, continuous pen line. Sometimes I deliberately do the opposite—just to see what happens. It’s a dance between intuition and intention. Often, the choices are spontaneous— dictated by time, gesture, or impulse. My favorite way to work is the two-minute quick sketch. There’s no time to think, which allows for intuitive, surprising marks that I could never plan. One of the mantras I’ve carried for years, from my mentor Jim Smyth, is: “Draw what the model is doing—not what they look like.” Those quick sketches have become the foundation for all of my work. I started with a graphite pencil and simply put in the mileage. Then pen and ink. Then water—moving the charcoal. Then color—watercolor. It evolved into layering materials: charcoal, water, ink, sometimes a Chinese brush to punctuate a gesture or anchor the pose. I carry this approach into painting—changing media as I go, as if I’m still sketching. I work freely at first, without judgment. Then I step back, detach, and really look. It’s that rhythm—dive in, step back—that helps me listen to what the moment is really asking for.
Solo in Blue, acrylic on wood panel
-What's the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
You can visit my website, www.DianeWarner-Wang.com or Instagram at @warnerwangdiane, additionally you can see some of my work at Pamela Walsh Gallery, www.pamelawalshgallery.com.
Statement
What interests me is the moment. How each restless moment holds an entire world in its light before growing bored and drifting toward something new. What interests me is capturing that moment - the way light falls on the planes of the model’s form in the studio or how its cast shadows play across the Northern California landscape. And each moment calls for something different: canvas and oils, pen and ink, charcoal and paper. My work tells the story about a single moment. But the story told is different for each person’s unique and singular experience.
Study Hall, oil/cwm on wood panel
Bio
At the Library, oil/cwm on wood panel
Restlessness and exploration is a theme in Diane Warner-Wang’s life and in her art. There’s a clear trajectory and connection in Diane’s call to biotech and the direction of her painting. Ten years ago, when she studied plein air technique and figurative drawing with Jim Smyth and Brigitte Curt she knew the analytical, thinking foundation they were providing was solid. But it was Symth’s figurative gesture drawing classes - quick sketches of the human form sometimes drawn with stick and ink - that gave Diane the freedom to trust her instincts and intuition. Further study with Melinda Cootsona, Ovanes Berberian and Oliver Sin supported her exploration around maintaining the equilibrium between the analytical mind and creative impulse. This work brought her to abstraction - and in particular figurative abstraction.
Born in Texas, she spent her childhood in Southern California and as a young woman lived for a time in Iran. Diane, now living in the San Francisco Bay Area, has a masters degree in experimental psychology from Southern Methodist University. With a deep interest in statistics, programming and network engineering, Diane’s primary career was spent in the technology sector as a Senior Network Engineer for Worldcom/British Telecom/MCI. In midlife she changed course, returned to school and after training moved into biotech as a Research Associate at Diagnostics for the Real World. Diane Warner-Wang’s paintings can be found in collections across the United States and in Europe and the U.K. Her work has received numerous awards in exhibits at the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto, NUMU of Los Gatos’ Greater Bay Area Open, the Sebastopol Center for the Arts and The Salon at Triton Museum in Santa Clara, California. She is regularly juried into exhibits with Artist Alliance, art-fluent, the California Art Club (CAC), SFVACC/SCORE in Los Angeles and the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts in Mill Valley, California.