Alberta Artist Diane Williams teaches (private) art lessons in the foothills of Kananaskis, illustrates children's books, paints original horse portraits and landscape paintings.  She photographs and paints the spirit of the Sable Island Horses.

See a short fun film of Diane painting in her studio and with her horses on Farm TV:

Photography by Marion Cox, British Columbia 

Diane’s life

Diane Williams has a Masters degree in Art Education from the University of British Columbia, Canada, and has been teaching art and photography to high school students, illustrating children’s books, and painting for over twenty years. During that time she has continued to refine her artistic skills at the Federation of Canadian Artists, the Vancouver Academy of Art, and Sacramento’s School of Light and Color.

She began her art career at the age of five with Saturday morning art classes. She remembers painting large murals with vibrant colors during those early childhood forays into the world of art. Her passion for color and boldness remains one of her trademarks.

With her father, Norm as a master of photography and her mother, Alice a stained-glass artist, Diane developed an early fascination for light and its nuances. When she was twelve, horses entered her life, and she rode until she was sixteen. Twenty-five years later, following a series of severe injuries that made walking painful, she returned to riding horses, as a form of healing. As her body healed, she began to paint horses, uniting her two passions—her love of painting and her love of horses.

Diane’s artwork, both commissioned and self-directed, hangs in private collections throughout North America and Europe.  Her work was presented at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Alberta for the “Masters” and in Chilliwack, British Columbia for many years for the Canadian Andalusian Festival.   She attended the World Cup Dressage Symposium in Las Vegas where she was commissioned to paint Lusitano stallions and be part of the Robinson Lusitanos booth.  June 2012, Heartland, an Alberta T.V. series has installed the Giclees, Ancient Mare and Blue Spirit on the cabin walls of their permanent set. 

Diane recently embarked on a journey from White Rock, B. C. to the foothills of  Kananaskis, AB. with her two cats Sophie and Tazz, and Amos, her beloved horse and muse.  Taking  a permanent leave of absence from teaching, she found her creative place in a artisan log cabin on her Stardust Ranch.  Her new Spanish mare, Lirica, has come into her life as her next artist muse and dance partner.  Diane divides her time between natural horsemanship~dressage with  her horses, flamenco dance, and painting the spirit of horses, whether finishing a commissioned piece, or pursuing one of her own inner visions.