Way and Monk mix Oil and Water

Diane Way is a reclusive painter. If her shows weren’t so magnificent that the world had to know then she would be just as pleased as punch to never have to talk to a reporter again. She much prefers to let her work speak for itself, even if it means she won’t get as much of the attention as she deserves.

So if one of Way’s paintings could talk, it would say it has flowed from the brush of a genius. It would feel like a touch of honey dripped down from the stars, landing on a piece of Earth and turning it into a glimpse of heaven. “I have been touched by an angel.”

Somewhere Way is reading this, blushing.

As uncomfortable as it is to be her own media rep, she can’t help but let her effervescent personality shine like an inner smile during a brief chat last week. Every word comes out of her mouth like a ray of sunshine.

“This is my first time I’ve showed this year,” she stated, somehow forgetting or even downplaying the piece she had up for the collective exhibit put on by the Visual Arts Studio Association. It was on display in this very same location up until just a month ago.

“This is a show of very different mediums. [Monk] works in very large oils, lots of texture. I work in watercolours which is a very difficult medium by most artists’ standards. I try and embrace the fluid nature of the water and I’m trying to get more loose with my paintings and use the water the way it’s meant to be. That means going with the flow, letting the water do its thing and then going where it takes you rather than forcing it in a direction within certain lines. I think I’m in a transition this year.”

She said this new stage of her work so far has been satisfactory.

“Actually, it’s been better because it’s become more interesting to me. I’m trying new techniques. Rather than fight against the water, I’ll see what mixes with what and using the watercolours more as chemistry and how they react with each other.”

The results are beautiful. If she really is just going with the flow then she must be the proverbial vessel, a conduit through which masterpieces arrive into the world. Even a lovely but mundane subject like sailboats lined up at a long pier becomes a meditation on serenity. It’s an image of cool and calm, the lake around it enticing viewers to take a dip. She’s painting her philosophy here and she refuses to shine her own spotlight on it. She’s just doing her thing and going along with the flow. If this work is any indication then she and the universe have a pretty good working relationship.

“It’s kinda like life. I realize how out of control things can be. To go with the flow … that’s my new motto.”

This is probably the perfect opportunity for her to gain a stronger public reception, especially considering it’s a joint effort with Monk, a gregarious presence and very well known artist whose name recognition alone is enough publicity. Her images of the majestic centuries-old Douglas fir trees from Vancouver Island’s Cathedral Grove are iconic. It’s just too bad that Monk herself isn’t in town. Way will have to receive all of the attention this time around.