Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Diana Madaras. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Diana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I donate an original painting to several charities a year that are close to my heart. TROT (Therapeutic Riding of Tucson) is one of them. Riding horses helps disabled children in many ways, including improving their ability to walk for several days after riding. I have owned horses for many years, and my horse Bisbee was a TROT volunteer until he died at age 30.

TROT’s fundraising committee asked me to paint a zebra for their gala one year since their theme was “Horse of a Different Color.” They settled on that after a travel company headquartered in Tucson gave them a safari to auction at the event. I was so impressed by the company’s generosity that I sent the owner a print of a lion I had painted. When he received the print, he called and asked me to lunch to discuss an idea. He started the conversation with, “If I send you to Africa on a 3-week photo safari, will you do an art show to benefit African charities? I would suggest we also donate some of the money to the Tucson Zoo and TROT.” It took me about 30 seconds to say YES! Five friends joined me and we experienced 17 game drives and saw 40 different species of animals and birds. It was truly a trip of a lifetime. After I returned from the trip, I created 10 African paintings for a charity event we held at my Gallery, and asked other wildlife artists to donate works of art, as well. We raised $80,000 for a game preserve, an AIDS orphanage and a community garden in Africa, and also gave proceeds to the two Tucson charities.

Diana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was raised in Toms River, N.J. in an apartment connected to my dad’s veterinary hospital. After four years at Rutgers, I moved to Tucson to attend grad school at the University of Arizona and escape the cold, gray days of N.J. My degree was in sports, and I worked in Sports Marketing for 18 years.

I had painted in high school and college and loved it, but never thought I had the talent to become a professional artist. I stopped painting when I got busy with my sports career. When I took up the brush again in 1972, Professor Chuck Albanese saw my work and convinced me to go with him on a university painting trip to Greece for a month. It changed my life. I wanted to do nothing but paint. When I returned from the trip, I put things into place to sell my sports marketing company and become a full-time artist (which took 3 years). Six years later, I opened Madaras Gallery. No regrets– not for one minute.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Some people could not believe I gave up a successful marketing company to be a painter, but it wasn’t really a choice for me. The desire to paint was so strong it outweighed everything else.

What people often ask is how long it takes to create a certain painting. I wonder if they are trying to judge how much the artist’s hourly wage might be, or if they think the value of the piece is tied to the hours spent on the project. The real answer to the question is: It took a lifetime- a lifetime of study and practice and experimentation and honing ores skills and garnering the life experiences brought to the easel.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I need to create. I have felt that way since I was a young child. I see inspiration everywhere I look. It can be as simple as a shadow cast on an object. Every trip I take, I want to paint what I see and translate that into my experience of it. My goal is to become the very best painter i can be, and when my painting brings joy to others, there are few things better.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.madaras.com
• Other: i can send a separate list.

Image Credits
photo of me– Steven Meckler photo of me and Max- Candice Eaton image photos Jack Kulawik