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May 21, 2023

A/E: Not too cool for school

Artist Madeline Dillner poses with her colorful art that follows in the

Artist Madeline Dillner poses with her colorful art that follows in the tradition of Oklahoma artists Carol Beesley and Dorothy Moses.

Norman has a wide variety of intellectual, artistic and cultural forces in play. People come here from all over the world because of the University of Oklahoma and there's an unmistakable creative vibrancy about this small city both on and off campus.

That can be intimidating for some and challenging for others. Artist Madeline Dillner based now in rural Wynnewood probably falls into the latter category.

She's not daunted by Norman's art scene but it does present some obstacles which may actually be self-imposed. Dillner's colorful and whimsical art will be on display at Second Friday Art Walk tonight 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Gallery 123, 123 Main Street.

"I feel like I’m not hip enough for Norman's arts scene sometimes," Dillner said. "I look around at the art and it's so inspired by social justice things going on and people's stories which involve mental health or growing up in whatever society they grew up in. There are so many amazing, touching stories behind their art. I paint pretty landscapes and nice horses with no super in-depth story behind them. I feel like I’m not cool enough for it but really appreciate going out and seeing all the inspired work."

Dillner is undeniably cheerful but is not a country bumpkin who paints. She holds an OU undergraduate degree in Environmental Sustainability Planning and Management and works for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Dillner is an improbable blend of technology wonk, aesthetic adventurer and merry prankster. Example: all Dillner's landscape paintings have GPS coordinates on the back of the canvas so you can locate the precise area she portrayed. She says that vivid colors make her brain fizz like strawberry Fanta soda. At madeline-dillner.pixels.com you’ll find apparel, stationery and coffee cups bearing her original imagery. Conventional wall art includes print and acrylic painting originals are for sale. They’re largely cityscapes, country scenes and animals. There are lots of animals. You hadn't thought of undersea beauties sipping martinis together? Dillner has. Her cute composition is titled "Mermaid Happy Hour." Much of this flavor art will be on exhibition tonight at Gallery 123.

"I have some of my floral pieces back up," Dillner said. "They’re big 30" by 40" paintings completed in 2018. I have some paintings inspired by a visit to Iceland which included a road trip all the way around the island that will be there.

"I like Gallery 123 and all the other artists there who I’ll be showing with, like Kathy Martin, she's a friend from the Midwest City-Del City Art Guild. She's got great colored abstracts next to mine so we’re like yeah, bright color corner over here."

Dillner is fearless in her use of flamboyant colors. She's following in the tradition of Oklahoma artists Carol Beesley and Dorothy Moses (1931-2021). Dillner has mounted exhibitions around Oklahoma. Earlier this year she had a show at New Orleans’ swanky Guess McCall Gallery. For that event Dillner explained her art in part with the following.

"Peace and stability have never been attractive to my brain, so I’ve settled for their rowdier cousins, elation and excitement. Most of the time, the world felt dim and gray, until the roar of a concert or the first bite of cake or a new tattoo or my first view of the Rocky Mountains or winning an award would light up my brain with electric pink sparks. Life was a rollercoaster. The ups were exciting and the downs were crushing."

She sold a painting to a Louisiana collector at that show. Currently Dillner is working on a series of paintings inspired by her current surroundings in Garvin County. With husband she resides on a homestead that's been in her family for generations.

"The series is based on photos I took at the Wynnewood rodeo," she said. "It's the first rodeo I’d been to since I was really little. There are colorful cowboys and cowgirls. I have a big canvas of a bull rider in the action of being thrown off the bull."

Dillner is restoring the Wynnewood homestead to being a working farm. She has another restoration project that involves work that her grandfather who was a sign painter completed back in the day. On the burg's W. Robt. S. Kerr Street is the Full House Bar known for its annual Memorial Day shuffleboard tournament. As an act of civic good will sprucing up the town, Dillner is reconditioning the saloon's sign.

"It's the first building you see when you come into town and there was a lot of chipping paint," Dillner said. "I’m touching up the sign that my granddaddy painted. He did a lot of sign painting and home building his whole life in Wynnewood."

Dillner enjoys all her various projects and hasn't lost touch with the fundamentals that her art requires.

"I like that I’m still able to draw," she said. "I do use a projector for some of my larger pieces but it's just an artist's tool. I hadn't drawn out a big painting for a while and was worried I’d forgotten how. But I’ve been drawing these cowboys, cowgirls and horses by eye and they look like the actual thing. So it has made me really happy."

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