Donald Diddams
The Art of Digital Art
Bottled Sunlight Mixed with a Gentle Rain
Posted on September 7, 2009
Grapefruit - 2009
Every July the local botanical garden sponsors the “Mango Melee” — a county fair-like event featuring dozens of varieties of local mangoes and other locally grown tropical fruit. This little pile of grapefruit was accented with one pink and one yellow fruit cut open to display the richly colored and textured interiors. If you could bottle sunlight mixed with a gentle rain, it might look like this.
Bromeliad Beauty
Posted on August 31, 2009
Bromeliad Beauty -- 2009
This bromeliad was growing in a friend’s garden. It’s not a perfect specimen, but the colors, the bit of water still held in the center, and the curve of the leaves all drew my attention as an illustration of the imperfect beauty available at our feet every day, if we only take time to look.
“Your New York”
Posted on August 25, 2009
This Is Your New York -- 2009
Here’s a snapshot of life in New York City. I’ve made a point of finally working through a folder of pictures taken last year, and have posted a few finished images on my portfolio website. Please have a look!
This otherwise ordinary city street/sidewalk scene intrigued me because of the way the edge of the bus shelter so dramatically bisected the frame leaving the happy shoppers on one side, and the person in denim with the traffic on the other. Behind the glass of the shelter (a little hard to see in this tiny size) are two murky figures and the poster that says “This Is Your New York”. A city of divergent moods – all at once.
Update
After Bonnie Luria’s comment (see below) got me thinking, I reworked this a little by adding some of the sidewalk and curb lines and colors from the original. I think the change helps unify the two halves of the image, and now the light values of the sidewalk add an important diagonal design element to the composition. Thanks for planting the seed, Bonnie!
This Is Your New York (revised) - 2009
Fish Lips
Posted on August 18, 2009
Fish for Dinner? -- 2009
I saw these guys on ice in an open air market in New York last year, and finally got around to working with the image. I don’t know what kind of fish they are, but it’s clear they’d been giving the passers-by a lot of lip.
A Mango-Tangle of Colors
Posted on August 12, 2009
The abstract images below started as photographs of one large mango and six small ones.
The first image is more or less the original mango colors. Stored sunshine. The other two emerged as I was working with the image. For me — even though there is little or no content to the images — they each evoke a different reaction and different feelings. While I have a favorite, looking at the three together raises a question.
“I like art that makes me smile,” I’ve been told. Many people do, and many also don’t like — and don’t respond to — art that evokes less positive emotions. But does that make it any less valid?
Mango 1
Mango 2
Mango 3
Outfall
Posted on August 6, 2009
Outfall - 2009
This image started as an abstract, but somehow also became a reflection on our culture and economy. It is interesting how the colors, the grid-like overlays, and the shapes contribute to an ambiguity of meaning that the imagery of the pipe and wall alone could not carry.
Stories to tell
Posted on July 31, 2009
Stories to tell - 2009
Vacant and for sale, this old building in the heart of Frederiksted looked like it had many stories to tell. The stone and brick lower level, arched arcade, wood upper floor and tin hip roof epitomize the style of an earlier era that makes Frederiksted so charming. The entire town is a gem in the rough, just waiting for the restorer’s touch to make it sparkle again.
Tanker in waiting
Posted on July 25, 2009
Tanker in waiting - 2009
The oil tankers often lurk offshore waiting for their turn at the spigot. This one was empty, riding high, eager for its fill. He chose the calm lee of the island, hovering there in the fading and hazy light of a cloudy evening.
Contact!
Posted on July 21, 2009
Contact -- 2009
Two large rocks along the shore just barely touched, bridged by a few small stones and had a thin channel of seawater running between them. The shadows and colors reminded me of a bruise radiating out from where the rocks made contact.
For contact of a different sort, I had an opening reception for a show of my work last Saturday night at a small gallery in Christiansted . Even though this is the off-season here on St. Croix, we had nearly 100 guests and over 20 sales. I was thrilled with such a positive response. I guess I’ll keep working!
Upheaval at the shore
Posted on July 9, 2009
Upheaval at the shore - 2009
While walking along the beach, the blue waves of the Caribbean Sea were in sharp contrast to the sunlit golden sand, coral stone and little black sea urchins at my feet. Suddenly, the warm tones of the sand and stone just under the water’s edge burst out, threatening to tear the very fabric of the sea… I wonder if that happens every day.
St. Croix — Hotel Caravelle Artwork
Mocko Jumbies
Donald Diddams 