Announcements •

Posted on November 29, 2022November 29, 2022 by Diamond — Leave a comment

Lil Mouse

Douglas Adam's makes the claim that the mouse is the most intelligent species on Earth in the modern classic, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. "These creatures you call mice, you see, they are not quite as they appear. They are merely the protrusion into our dimension of vastly hyperintelligent pan dimensional beings."

Sometimes when a mouse is running across my floor or I find one caught in a trap I consider the vast population that they make up; the number of predator's mouths they are able feed each day by merely existing. Just imagine the amount of seeds they spread during the fast paced lives they lead. Though they are often viewed as a pest they are definitely a necessary species and a quite successful one. They just might be hyperintelligent pan dimensional beings and we would never know. I like considering that fact as I empty and reset the mouse traps and remove mouse nests from stashed lumber in my woodshed.

This piece is a 6"x6" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas (which means it is ready to hang on a nail as is, straight out of the box). You can adopt it for your very own here.

I am holding a Shop Small Saturday 15% sale through November 30! All finished fine art included. Check it out here.

Posted on September 9, 2022September 8, 2022 by Diamond — Leave a comment

Libby and Maddie

Seasonal commissions are open! Check out the offerings here. Until then you can check out this sweet piece from earlier this year.

This piece was such a delight! Just look at those sweet pups🤩 Libby is the black dog and Maddie is the blond one (I know you were wondering!) This painting was commissioned as a gift from one friend to another to celebrate the long time bond between the friend and her furry companions. I love pieces like this💙

After the piece arrived this week I received some really kind words from Maddie and Libby's person by way of the customer who commissioned the piece. They were such touching words and sentiments and they all truly made my month. However to preserve privacy I'll just share the words that I received posted publicly to Facebook:

"Diamond… I can not even express how beautiful this is in person! You captured the souls of my fur balls that have my ❤️. Though Maddie is no longer with us - that soul that you captured with every detailed brushstroke so breathtakingly- remains with us in our hearts. I am so very grateful to be on the receiving end of this beautiful gift from my beautiful friend! Your talent is truly exceptional!"

😭😭😭 What an honor and gift to have some part in making another person feel like reaching out with words as kind as those. When I put my art out into the world I always hope it gets that kind of reaction and touches other humans that deeply. I have come to find I can with commissions especially if I do them right. The whole experience just fills my heart and satisfies my mind - thank you to my customers for trusting me and allowing me the chance to share, capture, and get back love in this lovely way - and also thank you for the opportunity to paint and pay tribute to these two beautiful pups🦋🐾🎨

Posted on August 30, 2022August 30, 2022 by Diamond — Leave a comment

Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods goes on display at Hutchinson Center for the Arts

Diamond Knispel is an acrylic painter located in the Northwoods of Minnesota. Her work features flora and fauna in saturated, lush scenes. She uses her work to explore the emotions of daily life, using each painting to zoom in on a particular critter nestled among botanicals and butterflies as a way to give voice to the wild world. Her postmodern-narrative art aims to make the viewer more curious about the wild world that often goes unnoticed. She says “I want folks to walk away thinking a little bit more about the wild world that surrounds us; to pause and consider cause and effect, and the reciprocal nature of everything.”

Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods explores the wild world that hangs in balance with the human world but isn’t always visible to people – even those who travel to seek it out. Often things that are not seen are not considered which is why our ditches are filled with both wildflowers and trash. Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods looks past the ditches and into the forests to focus on the wildflowers, pollinators and animals giving credence to the act of looking closer and exploring farther. Done in acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas the lively, colorful, whimsical, body of work looks at one warm spring day and the hidden stories being experienced by the plants and animals in our forests to honor the often unseen and unheard world that surrounds us.

Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods is meant to set a scene. The show starts on an early spring morning and progresses through the day looking at different tableaus as the light changes and different flora and fauna make themselves visible. The pieces are organized in sequential order based on the time of day. Each of these pieces comes with its own short story that reflects on the subjects and digs deeper into the artist's human experiences that inform every paint stroke and color choice.

An artist and explorer at heart, Diamond has been making a career as an artist for more than a decade with her personal work, employment, and residencies at arts organizations around Northern Minnesota. Diamond currently lives in the Laporte (MN) area with her husband and beloved cat, Lady Gray.

Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods is on view August 9th - September 16th, with a reception on September 2nd from 5:30-7pm.

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This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

The upcoming tour of "Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods" around the state of Minnesota is made possible, in part, by a Region 2 Arts Council Individual Artist Grant Award with funding from the McKnight Foundation.

Posted on June 1, 2021 by Diamond — Leave a comment

Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods to Open June 4

Announcing the opening of my latest body of work, Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods! The exhibit will be featured at MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids, MN throughout the month of June. This series has been in the works for years now, and you have seen some of the pieces posted here, but there are a whole lot more that you will get the chance to see for the first time starting June 4. I will be posting the pieces here soon so even if you can't make it over to the gallery to view the show in-person you will still get to take a look. The details are as follow:

Opening Reception: June 4, 4-7pm
Artist Talk: June 16, 6pm

An early convert to art, Diamond started practicing her eye for design early; a trait still exemplified in her work. Diamond often pairs flora and fauna with unsuspecting imagery in a surreal or whimsical way. Diamond describes her art as “an exploration of growth. Art, like life, is all about the process, and not as much about the finished product.” Diamond often spends dozens of hours on a single piece before she calls it finished.

Her latest body of work, Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods, explores the wild world that hangs in balance with the human world but isn’t always visible to people – even those who travel to seek it out. The paintings in this exhibit will look into the forests to focus on the wildflowers, pollinators, and animals giving credence to the act of looking closer and exploring farther.

Done in acrylic on canvas the lively, colorful, whimsical, pieces will look at the hidden stories of the plants and animals in our forests to honor the often unseen and unheard world that surrounds us.

The work will be on display at MacRostie Art Center (Grand Rapids, MN) through the month of June.

Sponsored by Oak Hill Assisted Living Community

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MACROSTIE ART CENTER is a nonprofit organization dedicated to community growth through the arts in northern Minnesota. We believe that art is central to the quality of life in northern Minnesota – as it is everywhere – and that the artists who create, sell, and exhibit art play a vital role in society. We support artists by providing a well-established venue for exhibition and sale of work. We work to keep the arts visible as a defining part of the community.

MacRostie Art Center
405 1st Avenue NW
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
macrostieartcenter.org
218.326.2697