Daily Inspiration: Meet Diane Loving

Today we’d like to introduce you to Diane Loving.

Hi Diane, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
It started with coffee and conversation with a fellow artist. We’d be each other’s cheerleader and critic, as well as commiserate about how being an artist can be a lonely calling. We wondered if other artists might be interested in getting together, ran a 4-line invitation in a local newspaper, and 40 artists showed up for the first meeting. Thus, the Southern Arizona Arts Guild was born in 2002. Twenty-three years later we have over 300 members, a Gallery in La Encantada Mall in Tucson, feature exhibitions all around southern Arizona, support young artists with scholarships, offer a variety of classes, and champion various art-related causes. SAAG accepts all artists, working in all mediums, at all skill levels. You can visit SAAG in person or at www.southernarizonaartsguild.com

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Our entire organization relies on volunteers (except for a paid, part-time gallery manager.) If you have 10 artists in a room, you will get 11 different opinions about almost everything. Art is subjective, and that’s how artists think. To make crucial decisions as an Arts Guild we often have to think objectively and deal with such nuisances as finances and budgets, always analyzing “What’s the biggest bang for our buck?” Artists always have such big ideas and vision. SAAG’s philosophy is: How do we get to “Yes?” I believe we can be all things to all artists IF those artists are willing to volunteer to make it happen.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a retired Art History Instructor. I also designed curriculum for the public schools that integrated art with math & science. I have always been an artist. I am amazed when I ask some creative people if they are an artist and their responses vary along the lines of, “I don’t know,” “I try,” “Not really, but I enjoy playing with it.” I think that most artists are born that way. Being an artist is often as simple as having the courage to say it. And, if you are among those who were not born artists, you can certainly be taught to embrace and enhance whatever your creative gift is. Maybe you are not an artist, but everyone has a creative gift, and when you discover and pursue it, it’s therapeutic! When I was teaching, part of the students’ grade depended on what I called a “Passion Project.” They were required to create something. I would not judge the outcome, but they had to present what they created, explain why they were passionate about their choice, talk about the process, give their own critique about what worked/what didn’t, would they do it again/how would they expand it? Many of the students balked. I gave them the choice of creating something or taking a standard exam. 100% of the time they chose to create. (Thank heavens. I never had to prepare that test.)

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
“How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci” by Michael Gelb is one of the most inspiring books I’ve ever read and re-read. As an instructor, I made it part of my required reading. It is a bible for creative, analytical and inspirational thinking. “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron is a tremendous guide for artists, artists-in-waiting, and those whose creative side lays dormant. I love her message of “It’s never too late…” I am stunned at the amount and quality of art instruction on YouTube. For anyone who is toying with the idea of taking up art, there is a mentor tailored to you!

Pricing:

• The SAAG Gallery has art in all mediums at all price levels. From $5 notecards to a $64,000 scrap metal Grandfather clock. Paintings, pottery, jewelry, textiles, wood, glass, sculpture, paper, photography, mosaics. We’ve never met a medium that one of our artists hasn’t mastered.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.southernarizonaartsguild.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saagtucson/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SAAGTucson/

Image Credits
Gail Kushner, Jim Morris, Theresa Poalucci