David Diaz

David is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association (MAPAPA) with a focus on regional and international subjects. He actively participates in juried plein air painting events througout the Mid-Atlantic area and Ireland and served as President of MAPAPA for two years. He is also active with the Maryland Federation of Art, serving as President & Co-Chair of the Exhibition Committee for the 50th Anniversary celebrations. David is the 2014 winner of the Visual Arts Award, the top award presented to artists in Anne Arundel County.

David is included in the historic book by Gary Pendleton “100 Plein Air Painters of the Mid-Atlantic” published by Schiffer in 2014. He competes and has won awards in a number of plein air painting competitions including Paint Annapolis, Mountain Plein Air, Easels of Frederick and Paint Easton.

“Even as a young student I was fascinated with trying to show depth and form with just a pencil. As color was added it became even more of a challenge. Academic study in college shifted my interest somewhat away from the old masters to the Impressionists and their color choices, particularly Renoir, Degas, the earlier Monets, Sisley, Morisot, and the exactness of Caillebotte.”
“I also retain a strong affinity for Vermeer and his play of shadow and light, which I try to capture on my canvases. And I think, to this end, you get the brightest light by painting outside in the open air.”
“In all of this I find it difficult to label my work as one style or period. I think a more realistic approach for a practicing, evolving, painter is to let the work speak for itself on whatever level, or to whatever emotion the viewer is attracted...”

Diaz was winner of the Quick Draw at Plein Air Easton 2022