Dinah Cross James has been considered to have a "good sense of
expressing the subconscious." That is, many of her painted images are
generated by allowing her intuitive powers to surface. She relies on
spontaneity to create many of her images. Dinah's love of travel has also been a source of many diverse
images in her work. She has traveled extensively in Europe, the Middle
East, Africa, South America and Mexico. A painting series resulted from
a fascination with Mayan, Aztec and Incan ruins and geography. Dinah's
travels to Africa stimulated her interest in Bone imagery. She did a
series of Elephant, cape buffalo and hippo skulls.
Several of her travels have taken her to places of geological
phenomena. These include the Grand Canyon, Bhutan, Machu Picchu and Mt.
St. Helens during the volcanic eruptions in 1980.
"Mt. St. Helens during its eruptive state was Magnificent,"
says Dinah. I was drawn there because of the raw creative energy taking
place in the earthly upheaval. The experience of being inside the
crater manifested the essence of creativity involving landslides,
fumeroles, earthquakes and sudden explosive movement. The constant
change in form and color inspired her work for years.
A graduate of Mills College, for over 30 years Dinah's work is
admired throughout the country in galleries, public and private
collections, national magazine covers, and books (see resume). In the
early stages of her career she was a fashion illustrator in Oregon and
has produced illustrations for Reader's Digest, Sunset Magazine and
children's books. As can be seen from above Dinah's travels and life
experiences have stimulated a diverse body of work. Her series of
paintings include: Mt. St. Helens, Grand Canyon, Raggedy Ann, Light
Energy, Mayan and Inca Ruins, Animal Skulls, Bird, and most recently
the Flower series. She is energized by working in different techniques
and uses oil, monotype, watercolor, drawing and acrylic. Although the majority of Dinah's work is abstract, a
continuous theme of her painting life has been country landscapes where
she again uses her love of movement and color.
The inspiration of Dinah's paintings has not always derived
from pleasant experiences. Some, in detail and vast expansions of
color, depict a time of intense sadness. In 1990, Dinah lost her only
child, Natalia (Tali) in a Berkeley fire. She was a sophomore at U. C.
Berkeley. This grievous period of her life, Dinah says, was
underwritten in several of her paintings. To learn more about this
period of Dinah's life she suggests you read, When Life Changes Or You Wish It Would by Carol Adrianne. The final chapter recaps Dinah's bereavement.
Dinah began her Raggedy Ann series during Tali's teen years. The
sequence is a portrayal of Tali's independent spirit and casts Raggedy
Ann being blown down dark roads and flying in red and black skies. Nine
months prior to Tali's death Dinah began a series of birds, symbolizing
her daughter. "The meaning of birds is spiritual freedom," explains
Dinah. "Tali was free." Within one month after the loss of Tali, Dinah was back in her
studio. Her paintings changed from the dark earth tones she'd been
using nine years previous to the loss of Tali. Dinah began to fill her
palette with pinks, bright yellows, greens and turquoise hues, and,
painting a series of birds, which, of course, is Tali. An accomplished pianist, avid tennis player, and art
instructor, Dinah says that solitude is very important to her. She
loves to take long hikes, and uses this precious time for developing
new ideas. One point she likes to ring into her student's ears is to
take a form and change it into as many shapes as they can…a method,
characteristic of the Dinah Cross James style. Now residing in Napa Valley, California, Dinah continues to
explore her inner world of abstract imagery which often is inspired by
travel. Peru, Mexico, Africa (I spent a month flying through six
countries in David Allan's private plane). Trips to Bhutan, China,
Tibet, Cambodia, Turkey and most recently my second trip to India. Currently I am using my art books on Indian Minature Painting:
transposing images from them into large abstracts. Also important to
the recent painting are two important books: "Freedom At Midnight" and
"The Last Mughal". All of this is giving me the opportunity to express
my love of color, movement, texture and space.
Dinah Cross James |