Meet Diana Toma of Art by Diana Toma

Today we’d like to introduce you to Diana Toma.

Diana, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was told by my parents that the first words I ever spoke in a string of elegant semi-gibberish were: “can I have a pen to draw?” Then on the very first day of elementary school, our new teacher gave us a first assignment: to draw a picture. She was so impressed with my drawing that I received an A in art the very first day of school! Later on, when I graduated high school I had access to all the K-12 files compiled through my school years and I discovered a two-page long letter written by my kindergarten teacher, advising that I should be encouraged towards an artistic career. It was such a treat to find and read! I grew up in Southeast Europe, Romania, in a charming city with cobblestone streets.

There were no artist role models in my entourage. An art career was a giant leap to take, and it all started when my mother walked into my room when I was 18 years old announcing: “They just re-opened the Faculty of Arts branch at our University. I found and convinced a professor to give you private painting lessons! You have one year to train to get into the fine arts program.” And so I did, and I was the only girl accepted into the fine art graphics department for that year. Those were the most engrossing eight years of my life, and it included getting a Masters Degree in Fine Arts by the prestigious Academy of Visual Arts in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, which is the highest degree in my field.

I now am creating art full time: I’m an award-winning artist, entrepreneur, art instructor, art juror, artist’s advocate, art consultant, and community inspirer. With my teaching, I specialize in creative un-blockage, and I show people how to fall in love with painting. Through my art I look to engage the viewer at an emotional level, bringing a sense of wonder. My quest is to strike through beauty.

In my family life, I aim to role-model happiness for my two daughters that I raise solely, showing them that one can have such an enchanting life when following their passion.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s been a bouncy yet wondrous long journey, and at the same time I’m realizing it is just beginning! The challenges I face as an artist & entrepreneur are many. It took years of education and practice to hone my skills, and I will for-ever work at fine-tuning them. Being a full time artist requires being a full time business person. The downside is income irregularity, time management headaches, never ending advertising, a continuous adaptation to market changes, long hours, and so on. My work gets evaluated by the taste and opinions of others. And then there are a few who act as I am unemployed when I introduce myself as an artist. They neglect to recognize that artists offer not only creativity through their businesses but they also provide countless non-artists with jobs. Art administrators, critiques, curators, gallery and museum staffs, teachers, art suppliers, framers, accountants and lawyers, federal and state employees – there are many who depend on artists just like myself for their jobs. On the other side of things everybody who gets to know me thinks I have the coolest job ever – so I get no sympathy 🙂

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Art by Diana Toma – what should we know?
In a nutshell, I promote the Arts as Creative Living. My role is to influence and co-create with the art consumer – art collectors, art lovers, artists, hobbyists, and art appreciators – leaving them moved, though and inspired, and with a renewed sense of awe for beauty and the human potentiality for self-expression. I share what I create with others to inspire them to create and live fully.

On my journey of making a living out of art, I end up connecting with people from all walks of life, all over the world. I’ve been working with high-level executives and I’ve been teaching private classes to housewives. I’ve taken part in art retreats, and artist residencies. I’ve been traveling with exhibiting my work – and I’ve been coming up with projects to sponsor those trips. I’ve crowd-funded, sold art, got commissioned. I am often invited to debate on open panels speaking on behalf of the working artist and to judge and jury art shows.

I’ve been advising and counseling other artists on their journey to become full-time artists. I’ve been teaching painting workshops to hundreds of students. Teaching painting is very dear to my heart because it has me connect with so many people at a meaningful level.

When I first started teaching painting classes I created a “why” for teaching. I wrote down this: “Every class participant will be validated in its infinite potentiality to create and become self-expressed. The reason for the existence of my class is to offer a safe space where everyone is acknowledged, included and hold dear. The purpose of teaching is connecting with people, sharing ideas, curiously engage, and see where we overlap.” There is not much about a style of painting, or a technique in my “why”. My “why” is centered around creating community. I now have shortened all that to one word: love.

The reason I teach is love. To spread it, give it to others, experience it. It helps tremendously when I’m tired and overworked, or feeling indisposed, and on the way to teach a late eve class that I offer. When I think of my “why”, I immediately get excited to go be with people.

My teaching approach focuses on fast free-flowing painting release and creative un-blockage. I dare my students to try-on a wide variety of subjects and techniques, e.g. portraiture, cityscapes, botanicals, wildlife, and intuitive painting. The goal is to facilitate my class participants to uncover hidden images of the self by falling in love with painting. I believe with the right instructor, everyone can paint, and paint good. A large portion of my work time is spent creating, painting. This is the core of my business. When I teach a workshop I paint. I do a demonstration at each of my classes.

When I’m in my studio I paint. And I have conversations with my followers on social media about the ins and outs of creativity. I love connecting with my collectors too. I see every purchase is an act of citizenship. It amplifies something in the world, good, bad or indifferent.

When offering my paintings for others to collect I’m creating a place for people who want their purchases to have meaning, to tell a story and to support what matters most to them: whether it’s innovation, unique creativity, domestic manufacturing, or the preservation of fine arts.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Oh, the people we meet! From my parents who paid attention and supported me to develop my inborn abilities & interests, to teachers, peers and colleagues I got inspired by along the way, to the hundreds of students, art collectors, and all the followers I interact with on social media, EVERYONE has been playing an essential part in debunking the myth of the starving artist and of other misconceptions about creativity.

Felicia, an entrepreneur I met at a self-development seminar has been sending me a check of $50 every month for a few years towards purchasing art – she just shopped my studio the other day. Noreen, a friend I made at a park while living in Brooklyn, NY has been referring me to her entourage for the past decade – because of her talking about my work I collaborated with huge companies like USTA, that reproduced my work on a line of best selling t-shirts for the US Open Tennis Championship.

Joanna wrote me an end-of-year note that she slipped in with a gift “You were the most important person in my life this year”. Hope emails “ I think you have cured me of my fear of ‘big’”. Christine, who found out about me when her husband’s co-worker gifted her a watercolor of her twins that I was commissioned to paint, comments on a Facebook post “I FINALLY got to take one of your classes…. and I loved every minute of it! The weekend flew by and left me wanting for more. So sad to leave the classroom today.  I continuously receive thank you letters and messages from my students. You are such an amazing teacher and an amazing person– what an incredible, inspiring spirit that you have. You are a true gift!”. And then there’s someone like Lynn, a student who just gave me the keys to her vacation home in Florida: “go relax and paint if you want”. I’m leaving tomorrow to spend a few weeks in the Gulf of Mexico, and I’m taking my daughters and our dog along.

Rendezvousing with people through art has been of tremendous help in the moments where I feel discouraged to follow a path unwalked. Ultimately, everyone I met helped me unveil this universal truth: we are who we meet.

Pricing:

• Works on paper and canvas, such as Watercolor, Acrylic and Oil Paintings range between $250 and $5,000
• Classes and workshops range from $140 to $420

Contact Info:

• Website: http://artbydianatoma.com
• Phone: 6786985616
• Email: [email protected]

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.