Michigan's Upper Peninsula is a window into the magic of changing seasons, a dance of forests, rivers, Lake Superior with its cliffs, and a landscape of nuanced colors and dramatic, shifting weather patterns.Art is my perception of the complexity of the world. I hope for honesty in being a visual witness showing life's beauty and struggles through my art, through detail and storytelling. My illustrations, drawings and paintings bring me into the world I'm painting, smelling the scent of pine forests, touching the beaver, running with wolves, swimming under the water's surface, flying with eagles and hawks. My fingertips know the bear's teeth, a lizard's skin, the bark on a tree. Personalities form as I work. Sometimes an image draws itself. Sometimes they argue -- a lot.Influenced by the world of illustration, my portraits and gallery art increasingly lean toward the allegorical. I enjoy the direct creating of texture, mixing of paints, and brushwork in traditional illustration. Adjustments, when necessary, are made with a computer. Since 1990,the field has changed considerably from hands-on to computer applications. Now AI is entering the picture, literally.To address the climate crisis, I began writing with an intention of bringing gratitude and hope for our world. Garden Sleeping, Garden "Growing: In and Around All Year Long" is my first of three books, written and illustrated for Middle-Grade and Young Adult audiences.Notes on a Professional Career. Over the decades, Diana has illustrated 101 books for children for educational trade publishers. She taught illustration classes at Northern Michigan University and presented in schools. In 2016, she was named Marquette City's Visual Artist of the year. Zero Degrees in Marquette, and Gallery on 5th in Calumet carry her work