Meet Diane Belgrod | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Diane Belgrod and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Diane, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
Knowing when to keep going with something, or whether to give up and move on, is something I’ve been working through for a long time. For most of my life, I didn’t believe in giving up on anything. I believe in committing to things and seeing those things through. This is complicated for me. I think a big drive to not give up was out of a deep fear of failure, but also out of a hopefulness that with enough time and energy, the seeds I had planted would have had the time to grow and flourish. What I’ve learned is that sometimes the giving up a choice is out of my control. When life is flowing away from something and towards something new, I’ve found it’s fruitless for me to try and fight the current. I’ve learned to surrender and be in the flow of my life, and work consciously towards changes that I feel are coming and move with them. I’ve also learned that it’s ok to fail, whatever that means to anyone, because what I may consider a failure, an ending of something that didn’t live up to my expectations of what I thought it would be going into it, is actually where my growth is happening, even if I may not see that until later. I know to keep going when the thing I am putting my energy towards calls me towards it, and I know intuitively is not harming me and is bringing me joy when I work with it, whether in relationships or my work. The decision to keep going or give up, like all the choices I make in my life, is an active conversation I have with myself and my intuition, a lot of which happens in meditation. This is an ongoing process of learning for me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a painter working mainly in acrylic on large canvas. I am really excited about a new series of larger scale works I just started, inspired by the undercurrent of the divine feminine and the way that energy runs through everything; how we perceive it, how we work with it, and how it’s shifting, as seen through scenes of my family and my son’s first year of life. I also recently finished illustrating a graphic novel for children, which will be publishing in April, the first book in the Mila On Purpose series, titled #Grow Your Circle. This was a change from how I normally work. It was challenging and very rewarding. I am proud of having accomplished this while working from home with a newborn baby who became a toddler. Figuring out how to balance everything, with the incredible help and support of my partner, made this even more of an accomplishment.

It took a long time in my life for me to feel confident enough to make art and call myself an artist. I have spent a long time developing my relationship with myself. I’ve discovered the deeper and more intimate that relationship becomes, the more joy I feel and the less self-critical I’ve become, which is such a release. I’ve found a reflection of myself in my art, which seems obvious but is really surprising in a great way. I love when I paint something because I’m drawn to an image or a color, and then later after the piece is done I see a deeper meaning that I didn’t even notice while I was creating it. I love getting messages from myself like that. I try to quiet any inner critic that might try to interrupt when I’m working, and focus on the work itself and how good it feels to just be there in that moment, painting. It’s something I am conscious of in general in my life. Whatever anyone may think of the work later is a different conversation and also their own personal reflection of themselves in the work. I try to let that be something that I keep out of the process. Some days are easier than others. For now, I am excited to see what else I will discover in my art and what new things I can create.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I have so many favorite spots! I love taking people up to the tide pools and the Cabrillo Monument lighthouse for the beautiful views of all of San Diego. I love to do a coastal drive from Mission Beach all the way up to Oceanside, stopping along the way. I love walking along Sunset Cliffs. We would eat breakfast burritos at Nico’s, clam chowder at Anthony’s Fish Grotto and pasta and tiramisu at Cessarina, then a hot waffle sundae at Lighthouse Ice Cream.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am so grateful for my family and friends who have always unquestioningly believed in me, supported, and encouraged me to go beyond what I thought I was capable of, and through their love and support, I learned to trust my own artistic gifts and instincts.

Website: www.dianebelgrod.com

Instagram: @dianebelgrodart