See Glow (11”x14” acrylic) and 20 new paintings at the Madaras Gallery Annual Show in October. It’s the gallery’s biggest show of the year!
‘Journey’ is the title of this October’s Annual Show at Madaras Gallery, featuring 20 new paintings by award-winning Tucson artist Diana Madaras.
“For everyone, myself included, the last two years have been filled with unexpected challenges,” Madaras said. “My outlet is my art.”
Since opening the gallery in 1999, Madaras has been on her own spectacular journey, one not without setbacks. There was the period in 2014 when she was unable to paint for many months having broken four fingers on her right hand in a fall in the foothills with her dogs. Last year, she was hobbled by a dislocated ankle with several compound fractures that required plates and screws. Most recently, her fiancée was seriously injured in a horse accident at a guest ranch in Montana, and while she helped nurse him back to health in the hospital in Billings, she contracted COVID. All through this ‘journey,’ her art has been her salvation, and painting her joy.
Madaras believes art should be accessible to all, and she has reproduced her collection of images as prints, canvases, cutting boards, holiday cards, and more, all available at the gallery and online at madaras.com.
When you see a Madaras painting—at the airport or at a resort or in a home—you know it’s hers: vibrant colors jump off the canvas, her use of light captures the desert’s life at various times of the day, and there are small details that the artist shares, almost like a secret.
“Every image is a passion for me,” Madaras said. “I love to see what color on a canvas can create.”
Her journey has involved paintings done in acrylic and watercolors of desert scenes, animals, birds, and flowers. She has depicted sights from her travels to Greece and Africa, as well as the destinations in the U.S. where she has journeyed.
There have also been some “side trips” on her journey—her “Spirit Animal” collection of various wildlife on black backgrounds, and her recent “Masters Series” with her saguaro spin on the styles of artists like Picasso, Pollock, Nieto, and Van Gogh. The Tucson Airport Authority recently selected Madaras’ Masters Series for a permanent art installation on the walls of the ramps leading to the terminal gates.
“It’s been a wonderful journey for me, for our gallery team, for our guest artists and for our passionate visitors over all of these years,” Madaras said. “I’m really looking forward to this year’s event to celebrate what we have shared together.”
Artist Reception
* Free admission
* Sunday, Oct. 23, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
* Madaras Gallery, Inc., 3035 N. Swan Rd., Tucson, AZ 85718