Dianna Cates Dunn » Blog

I do love double entendres. Don't you?( And I laugh loudest when it takes me a moment or two to catch the double meaning of what is being said.) Visual art is full of double entendres. In fact, any art form, whether it be dance, theatre, music or, my chosen, visual art should be. An image can imply so may many meanings to viewer that constructing a "the"  meaning of the image can be neigh impossible. With any luck at all, an artist manages to convey multiple meanings at multiple levels to a multitude of viewers. In other words, art should have an exponential aspect to it.

So, what does this have to do with our dear Tula?

Well, just about everything.

You see, somehow a rumor got started about the book "The Truths of Tula - A Muse and Her Artist" as being a book for children. I suppose the colorful images and inclusion of animal figures initially triggered that thought. And though it certainly can be read to, or by, children - as there is nothing offensive said or implied - the book was intended for adults who want to or already do appreciate art and can appreciate the needs of their inner child.

Let me explain.

Every painting has a story. A story as to why it was painted AND a story(s) that it tells. When Tula first came to me, she spoke to me about confidence, about forging ahead against all odds, about rediscovering the joy and amazing aspects of the world we live in. She restored my hope. She gave me laughter. And most of all she showed be how to be free again. Tula seemed to have a mission and that mission seemed to be me!

But I was wrong.

You see, I was limiting Tula's mission. After sharing the earliest Tula paintings at a few art venues, many viewers began to express how Tula touched them and how they wished there was, well, a book about her! Remember, these were all adults who expressed this, not children. Long story short, a book about Tula and what she has shared with me is one of the results. There are twenty paintings inspired by Tula in the book. However, her inspiration continues on in even more paintings that have come since the book went off to publishing. Tula you see, continues to move onward. She is not static nor is her journey finished. Life is never stagnant and nor is Tula.