Stepping Back in Time
Diana Cumberland Stupniski
By Duane Radford
“Memories of Long Ago.”
“The Antique Artist.”
“Dreams of Long Ago.”
 These are banners on Diana Cumberland Stupniski’s brochures; a bit sentimental…definitely nostalgic.
Diana Cumberland Stupniski was born in Estevan, Saskatchewan and raised on a small farm near Whitecourt, Alberta.
She’s come a long way, in art circles, from her humble beginnings to her Painted Past Publishing studio in Stony Plain, Alberta. However, childhood memories of walking fence rails around corrals, and using cow pies (well-dried, of course) as bases for a ball game with her siblings, are still fresh in her mind.
She’s the official artist of the Alberta Professional Chuckwagon & Chariot Association’s Taste the Dust 2004 Pro Tour, and serves as the art coordinator for the annual Stony Plain Cowboy Poetry Gathering.
 Using antique photographs as her inspiration, she paints using a palette of black and white, with sepia overtones, creating images of a by-gone era. She also does custom work of contemporary scenes and portraits, also in black and white.
Stupniski’s subject matter isn’t really a surprise, considering her life-long interest in antiques. Her paintings evoke long-forgotten memories of rural life. For example, Morning Chore; a young lad standing beside a hand pump with a water pail hanging on the spout, and 6-A-Breast; a team of draft horses pulling a plough with a farmer gripping the reins. For folks who have roots in western Canada, her painting can’t help but be just a little bit nostalgic. Children are prominent in much of her art – Heart n’ Soul being one of her favourites, and in her words, “A child rich in his own way, although he might not look like it.”
 A self-taught artist, her interest in painting from antique pictures developed out of a curiosity in the actual works themselves. Eventually, she tried to capture the antique images on canvas. She goes through a lot of archival collections and family albums to get ideas she would like to portray, spending many hours in research before first sketching her subject matter on canvas. The smallest photo she has worked with was about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. She can define areas that are blurred and sharpen images faded by time or water, and even ravaged by mice … and fill in the gaps, if any.
“I’ve been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember,” says Stupniski. “Mostly just sketching, to start with. My first published piece was when I was in grade eight.” She attributes her ability to totally concentrate on an image as being fundamental to her success. To illustrate her point she explains, “It’s necessary to have a real understanding of what’s in a picture – not just knowing your subject, but feeling your subject, getting inside it. It’s sort of like walking in somebody else’s shoes.” She says a turn of fate was instrumental in launching her art career; a natural inclination for art. “God has given me a gift.” She treats each painting as a personal success and says that each one has part of her personality imprinted in the image, which reflects who she is and how she feels about it.
 Stupniski summarizes her work, “My art appeals to a lot of people in a lot of different ways, whether it’s an event in their life, or a reminder of someone they once knew, or still know. I think it appeals to people because I believe there is goodness in everyone and I like to bring this out in my art in a way that’s focused.” Asked about her future as an artist, she says, “I hope I’m still painting in five years. I see my work probably a little more recognized as it becomes more popular.” When asked how she finds time for her artwork, considering her four children and family obligations, she smiles and says, “I think it makes time for me. It sets its own course. It hits me … I see an image and it’s got to be done, so it pulls me. I won’t leave it alone until it’s done. Or it won’t leave me alone.”
 When you view Stupniski’s images of times when life was simpler, and pleasures were focused on home and family, it’s easy to understand why she calls her shop Painted Past Publishing.
Stupniski can be contacted at her studio: (780) 968-6373 or toll free at 1-800-986-6373. Her e-mail address is: petendi@connect.ab.ca. Her works are available in limited edition prints and artist proofs, signed and numbered by the artist.
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