Artist singled out at Best and Brightest competition

Painter takes home Best of Show Award

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Local artist Diane Eugster won Best of Show during the 21st annual Best and Brightest 2006 juried art show and competition at the Scottsdale Artists School earlier this month.

Eugster won not only the coveted title for her painting, but also a $1,000 cash award and $600 tuition credit for upcoming workshops. She said receiving Best of Show at the invitational show for alumni "felt great."

The painting Eugster, 49, won with "Green Apple," is a colorful oil painting of an uninterested girl in a pink shirt and green skirt sitting at a table with a basket of apples sitting atop. The girl also holds an apple in her hand.

"I like timeless things," said Eugster, a southwest valley resident. "Green Apple" qualifies, since it looks as if it could have been painted last year or last century.

Although Eugster wasn't always a painter by profession, she has been around artists and art supplies for most of her life.

"My mother owned an art supply store in the Boulevard Mall and I worked there when I was in high school," she said.

Before becoming an artist Eugster's career was in design and graphic arts, but she ended up growing tired of it about 10 years ago.

"We were coming to up to the next big upgrade, which happens every few years when you're working with graphic arts," she said. "And I said, 'No, I'm tired of this.' I was 39 and decided to start painting. And my husband backed me all the way. Now I've been painting every day for the last 10 years."

With no formal training, Eugster has made a name for herself both locally and nationally.

The artist, who also teaches at the Las Vegas Art Museum, said she keeps herself going by setting, what initially seemed to be, unobtainable goals.

"You set these goals that you think you can never reach, and then you do, so then you set more, and you keep doing it because it keeps you going."

The first major step that Eugster had to make was to find out what called to her as an artist, whether it be people, landscapes or still lives.

"You really have to figure out what excites you in this world," she said excitedly. "And for me, people have everything I'm looking for."

Most models aren't willing to sit for an artist for 14 to 20 hours -- the average amount of time Eugster would need -- so she generally works from photographs and sketches.

The other essential idea, which Eugster still works with on a daily basis, is how to seize the attention of a viewer.

"When I wake up, I think about painting. It's almost an addiction, a compulsion. And each one is an experiment, but I really want to make it work. One of the biggest things is that you have to grab someone from far away and capture their interest. So you have to figure out what you can do to capture and captivate them."

Eugster explained that even when the viewer's attention is focused on the painting, the painter then wants to keep the viewer there, looking at the details and different aspects of the art work, for as long as possible.

"I like to leave part of the painting undeveloped so you can say what you want it to be. It's good to get the viewer involved."

Painting becomes a professional painter's life, like many other passions. So, Eugster enjoys sharing what she has learned over the years with students both at the museum and with students who take private lessons at her home studio.

Bob Rawdin, a student of Eugster's for nearly three years, enjoys her style of teaching.

"I was looking for a good teacher, so I checked out the museum and I found Diane," Rawdin said. "She is a terrific artist in my opinion, very motivating and very enthusiastic. She taught us to be free and to develop our own style while using demonstrations, and that's very important. She's a wonderful painter and teacher."

More information on Eugster's art work can be found at www.dianeeugster.net.