Diane Bombshelter working in her studio at Launchpad Artspace.
Diane Bombshelter is an artist at Launchpad Artspace. She describes her work as Realism on black velvet. She explains, “I look at the world through black velvet glasses so if I think something will look great on black velvet, I will follow that muse. Right now, I’m inspired by Jazz Age nudes and the Art Deco movement. I’ve also been inspired by Chinese Kung Fu movies, Tiki culture, Celebrity, TV and kitsch.”
Diane started painting on black velvet in 2007 after taking art classes at Pima Community College with her favorite artist and teacher George Welch. While researching books about black velvet painting, she came across the work of Leeteg of Tahiti. His masterpieces of Tahitian people completely changed her perception of what black velvet paintings could be. Changing people’s perception through her body of work has now become Diane’s goal.
Chinese Martial Arts Movie Actor, Lu Feng. Diane Bombshelter painted the portrait of him as a character from one of his movies, “Flag of Iron.” On the right is his autograph dated 8/24/2018.
Originally, Diane worked out of her house and progress was very slow. In 2012, when she rented space at an Artists/Tattoo collective called Southbound Studios, working in a creative environment with other talented artists sent her progression through the roof. She was featured in an episode of Arizona Highways Television in 2015. The following year she had her first, solo art opening in the Hotel Congress lobby. In 2017, Elizabeth Cherry commissioned her to do 20 paintings on black velvet that she had turned into a limited-edition card deck. And the following year, Diane had a show at La Matadora Gallery in Joshua Tree, California that was one of her most successful shows next to the one at Hotel Congress.
Last year Diane painted a portrait of one of her favorite Kung Fu movie stars. She says, “He came all the way from China to a Martial Arts Convention in Burbank, California. There I met him in person and got him to autograph the painting. He was impressed!”
Diane Bombshelter’s Mosaic Mural of Saint Charles at Saint Charles Tavern. (The painted frame with the skulls was done by artist Amy Novelli).
Diane does a lot of commissions of pet and people portraits. And for something completely different, she loves doing mosaic murals and making Art Cars. It was a mosaic mural workshop that she took in 2010 with the world-renowned mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar in Philadelphia, PA that revealed another passion of hers, gluing and grouting. In 2017, she was commissioned to create a 7 ft. x 7 ft. mosaic mural at Saint Charles Tavern. The mural took her 7 days to complete and can be seen on the wall of the tavern’s back patio at 1632 S 4th Ave, Tucson, AZ 85713.
What attracted Diane to Launchpad Artspace is the funky, built-out loft space in a warehouse. She says, “I like the energy of the other artists in the compound and the communal Art Gallery. It’s a really great venue for events and to showcase all of the artists that work there. The events expose different audiences to my art. Since I am also now a working Yoga Instructor, holding classes at the Gallery provides a crossover audience that boosts both my art and my vocation as an instructor.”
As for her business aspirations, she’d like to continue painting on black velvet while simultaneously pursuing a career as a Yoga Instructor. Both provide an outlet for her creative expression.
Learn more about Diane Bombshelter’s work: www.dianebombshelterart.com, Facebook: www.facebook.com/dianebombshelterart/, http://www.facebook.com/yogawithdianeb/