‘Love Affair’ with the Desert Diana Madaras shows the colorful side of Tucson
T By Laura Latzko
ucson gallery owner and painter Diana Madaras has had a 45-year love affair with the city’s landscape and wildlife. Each fall, she takes that relationship and parlays it into her annual show. This year, she dubbed it “Love Affair,” and it runs from Saturday, October 23, to Sunday, November 7, at her gallery. For “Love Affair,” Madaras painted desert landscapes and floral scenes as well as portraits of different domestic and wild animals, including birds, bobcats, coyotes, horses and bison. Madaras was inspired by spots in Southern Arizona, including Hacienda del Sol and Santa Catalina Mountains, as well as Rancho de la Osa in Sasabe, and places in Wyoming and South Dakota. She tried to incorporate important details — such as the pots that the plants were placed in at Hacienda del Sol — into scenes in her paintings. For reference, she uses photos taken by herself and a photographer friend. “You have to start with a good reference to make a good painting,” Madaras says. “I have thousands of photos, and sometimes I will look through them and see what captures my imagination at any particular time.” This year, the show will feature three new pieces from “The Masters Series,” in which Madaras recreates the styles of renowned painters using saguaros as the focal point. Her 30
Madaras Gallery’s annual show “Love Affair” will feature works such as Diana Madaras’ “Pink Ocotillo II.” (Photos courtesy of Diana Madaras)
newest pieces are in the styles of Jackson Pollock, Frida Kahlo and Raphael. For the Pollock-inspired piece, she used a paint-splattering technique. Within the Kahlo-inspired piece, she painted an image of Kahlo on a saguaro cactus. Thus far, she completed eight works of art for the series, which was inspired by artist John Nieto, who combined Native American subject matter with a Picassoinspired cubist style. “I thought that was very interesting and wanted to try my hand at painting my subject matter, which is more of the desert, in the style of Picasso,” she says. “That was one of the first ones, and it led to more and more because it was so much fun.”
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Stately saguaros
Madaras has used saguaros in her work for years and was not at a shortage for inspiration. “I’ve painted the saguaros so many times that I know the shape pretty well. I can paint saguaros from memory,” Madaras says. “It’s an iconic representation of the Sonoran Desert. It’s one of the only places that has saguaros. They are so stately, and each one has personality.” Madaras, who uses watercolor and acrylic paints and pastels, has been working as an artist for about the last 25 years. The impressionist painter is known for her use of vibrant colors and her nature-themed subject matter. She often tries to highlight the beauty within everyday scenes.
