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By Leti Wesolowski, contributor Claudia Dimidik is a Colorado artist and teacher (both high school art and studio classes) who believes that learning is a lifelong process. Trained and credentialed with a B. A. in Art Education, her desire to learn more than one style of art, led her to earn an M.A. in Fine Arts degree. She works with a variety of media including painting, sculpture, printmaking and photography. As an active member in the arts community, Claudia has earned numerous awards and recognition for her works. Her art revolves around childhood memories, her Slavic background, and her love for nature and the untouched landscape. Claudia is a member of the Front Range Open Studio Tour in Monument, and a Commonwheel member since 2016.  What is your first memory of being introduced to art or creating something with your own hands? How did you get interested in art? One of my favorite memories was during an art class in elementary school. We were instructed to paint with watercolors and I proudly painted a yacht. I can picture that yacht to this day with the Blue-Ribbon award attached to it :) What does inspire you? I love to hike, bike and fish. In other words, I have always been drawn to the outdoors and nature. I kind of wonder if this is because we were always sent out to play. I can remember the cattails, crayfish, ice skating and so much more. This makes me want to be outside enjoying the beauty and the endless paths one can find. My scenes are idyllic as they take me back to those happy places.  "Iris Wonder", Batik watercolor by Claudia Dimidik  "Splash of Color", Batik watercolor by Claudia Dimidik  "Iris", Batik watercolor by Claudia Dimidik What is(are) your preferred medium(s) today? My current preferred medium is the ebb and flow of the alcohol inks. Anything water-based as I enjoy working with wet in wet techniques. It never ceases to surprise me what I see. I also enjoy working with photography and computer graphics. Tell us about your creative process. Walk us through the steps to create one of your alcohol ink trivets. Each alcohol ink tile begins with a good cleaning and then a base of color. Often working from top to bottom. Depending on the image being created the inks are applied with sponges, brushes, Q-tips, eye makeup brushes, toothbrushes and even just straight out of the bottle. At times, a mixing palette is required.  Claudia working on an alcohol ink tile. What is the visual effect or emotion you look for capturing in your compositions? I look to depict idyllic scenes that are happy, safe and peaceful areas. Usually associated with a happy place whether it be streams that I have fished, mountains I have climbed, moons that I have seen, paths that I have walked or areas that I have bicycled through. All of these are adventures that are waiting to be discovered.  "Autumn Whimsy", Batik watercolor by Claudia Dimidik  "Trivet Tray 2", alcohol ink on ceramic tile by Claudia Dimidik What tool in your studio could you not live without? I would have to say that it isn't a tool but two areas. The workshop and the studio. My workshop is where the pours, cutting and dirty work occur in. The studio is the staging and painting area. Everything has a place and without these areas I would feel as if I were confined. Do you have a favorite artist that you admire or follow? Ever since visiting Giverny and Monet's garden I have been drawn to his series and his winter landscapes.  Winter scene, alcohol inks on ceramic tile by Claudia Dimidik What is your proudest achievement? Being a member of the Front Range Open Studio Tours. This will be my second year participating in this event to be held the weekend of September 9 and 10th from 10-5 pm http://www.frontrangeopenstudios.com/map.php The 16 artists selected open their homes and studios to help bring awareness of what it takes to be an artist and to gain support for art and the process. Also, being one of 52 photographers to take one analog camera, one week and shoot one roll of black and white film. The show and book depicts images from each photographer. “A Year in the Life of a Camera,” had been exhibited in Denver, Castle Rock and at Optical Reverb in Colorado Springs. What is your favorite piece you’ve ever made? I painted a large acrylic over the sofa size painting of some wild horses. The style was a mesh of shapes and colors depicting freedom. The piece was designed specifically to fit the room and decor and was one of the largest paintings I had completed at the time. I had titled it "Into the West". I tell this story to my students because it is important to take photographs of completed works for your portfolio. Well this is a prime sample of what happens when you least expect it to. I put the piece into the then BAC at a high price thinking I'll have it back at the end of the month. It sold and I had to try and remember how it looked to try and paint "Into the West II". What are you currently working on? Is there anything new in the shop that you are very excited about? More alcohol ink tiles. New pieces including very large triptychs and very small miniatures are in the works and will be in Commonwheel soon.  Alcohol inks on ceramic tile by Claudia Dimidik  Alcohol inks on ceramic tile by Claudia Dimidik  Alcohol inks on ceramic tile by Claudia Dimidik What’s next for you?
Alcohol ink workshops and Batik on rice paper workshops will begin again in September. Sign up on http://www.pictureithome.com/workshops. The Front Range Open Studio Tours happen September 9th and 10th http://www.frontrangeopenstudios.com. I will be at the Palmer Lake Craft Fair in October. But first another bicycle trip. After returning from Spain it was decided we were not done cycling so this time we see Canada and the Kettle Valley Rail Trial. Visit our Commonwheel Artist Co-op store to receive 10% off all Claudia’s creations through the whole month of August (in-store sales only). You can find her art also at the following links: http://www.frontrangeopenstudios.com http://www.pictureithome.com http://www.academyframesco.com http://palmerlakeartgroup.com Did you enjoy this post? Leave as a comment and let us know! We’d love to hear from you! Want more local art news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Commonwheel newsletter here.
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Juanita Canzoneri
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