Bold lined coloring books and Crayola crayons were Dianna Fritzler’s cherished possessions as a young child. There was something magical about creating a color-filled picture where there once was none that made Fritzler a little giddy.
However, she grew up thinking that being an artist was something that you were born to be – like being born as a giraffe or a parrot. So, she dutifully pursued her other childhood interests in jump rope, bicycling, and Chinese checkers, never thinking that it would ever be a possibility to become an artist.
It wasn’t until college that Fritzler’s art sojourn began in the photography darkroom at the University of Wyoming and then morphed into the advertising world as an art director and copywriter for twenty years. In between, at the age of 25, she sold her belongings and backpacked around the world for a year with the intention of visiting as many art museums and architectural highlights as possible. During this journey, her strong yearning to paint blossomed.
Returning to the U.S. Fritzler unexpectedly fell in love (with a cowboy of course), got married and had two little girls. And, as busy mom and business woman, Fritzler knew a formal education in art was not going to happen. So, she earnestly sought out multiple talented instructors to study with and surprisingly discovered that people wanted to buy her work.
Twenty years later, she is a full-time artist and her paintings are in the collections of Children’s Hospital Colorado, St. Mary’s Hospital, Colorado Mesa University and Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado. Grande River wine bottles also don her artwork.
She is represented by galleries in Colorado and Arizona and is on faculty of the Art Students League of Denver. Teaching workshops throughout the country is another passion of hers.
Fritzler’s greatest honor is to spread joy through her paintings and teach people how to explore and expand their creative spirit. She now happily lives near the base of The Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction, CO with her husband and Sheepadoodle, Hazel.
Statement
My paintings reflect how I see life – somewhat chaotic but full of vibrancy and joy. While growing up in Wyoming I was fortunate to enjoy its wildlife, rodeos and ranch life.
I’ve developed a multi-layer process moving from chaos to calm-ish with an exuberant color palette to depict a western vibe. Using photo transfers (mainly from B&W photos I’ve taken over the years) and placing them in vibrant, abstracted environments conveys my take on western life: A new west that is adventurous, bold, spirited, vibrant, and even sometimes playful.
I launch into each painting with wild, unencumbered mark making and exuberant paint colors. The next several layers are applied in a dance of adding and subtracting chaos and calm. Little bits of excitement often peak out from layers buried below and these “little jewels” remind me that it is often things in our past that help to guide us forward and create interest. It is the whole of our life journey that matters, not just what appears on the surface. When painting, I retreat into the profound gift of living in the moment. My intention, always, is to sprinkle seeds of joy and help foster optimism.