November 1 , 2007

Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise.  Diane was on board as the commemorative poster artist for the 2007 Mexican Riviera cruise in October.  Sailing out of San Diego on Holland America’s Ms Oosterdam, the cruise was a nonstop concert on the high seas.  Among the performers were Taj Mahal, Curtis Salgado, Elvin Bishop, Bobby Rush, Marcia Ball, Tommy Castro, Earl Thomas, Sista Monica Parker, Eric Bibb, John Lee Hooker Jr., Eden Brent, Junior Brantley, and that’s just a partial list!  The first stop was Cabo San Lucas, where the place to be was Cabo Wabo for more music and great fish tacos.  Puerto Vallarta was the next stop, followed by Manzanillo and a tour inland to visit Colima City, the Pyramids of La Compana, and the city of Comala.  In addition to the scheduled music on the ship, there were pro jams lasting till the sun came up, culinary demos, theme nights, and the Legendary Mardi Gras parade. Thanks to Roger Naber and the Legendary staff for making this an unforgettable experience that Diane feels very fortunate to have been a part of.  Back in San Diego, the trip was completed with a stop to photograph Diane’s painting of Taj Mahal on the side of the Legendary RV.  For information on the Legendary Blues Cruise, visit www.bluescruise.com.  To purchase a limited edition print of the commemorative painting, click here.

December 6, 2006



Museum After Hours featuring Charmaine Neville with Reggie Houston’s Crescent City Connection. Diane’s original portrait paintings were on display in the lobby of the third floor ballroom during this memorable concert at the Portland Art Museum. The exhibit featured Diane’s recent painting of Reggie Houston, which was inspired by a photograph she took of him at Portland’s Blues for Katrina benefit concert in 2005. Reggie, who recently moved to Portland from New Orleans, was accompanying Tom D’Antoni’s reading of his essay titled “Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans”. When Reggie, overcome by emotion halfway through the reading, began to cry, Diane caught that moment on film and later translated it to canvas. For the painting, Diane placed Reggie on Frenchmen Street just outside Snug Harbor where he used to play a weekly gig with Charmaine. A closer look at the painting will also reveal Tom’s hat on Reggie’s collar. To view Diane's painting of Reggie click here. To read Reggie's comments about Diane's painting, click here. For more information about Reggie Houston, visit www.reggiehouston.com.

August 10, 2006

Blueswax Interview. Thanks to photographer Bob Gersztyn for writing a great article and interview in the August 10th edition of Blueswax, a weekly email blues newsletter published by Blues Review Magazine. To read Bob’s interview with Diane, click here. To see more of Bob’s work, visit his website at www.cpibybobg.com/index.html.

May 5, 2005

26th Annual W.C. Handy Blues Awards, Memphis, Tennessee. The Blues Foundation in Memphis presents this annual awards ceremony (now renamed the Blues Music Awards). For the 2005 awards show, the Foundation honored Pinetop Perkins with it’s Lifetime Achievement Award and chose Diane’s painting of Pinetop to be featured on their poster and program. Jay Sieleman, executive director of the Blues Foundation, had this to say about how the poster came together: “We were familiar with and loved the work of Portland artist Diane Russell, who always sent us postcards featuring her latest blues paintings. I inquired whether she would be interested in creating a piece featuring Pinetop for incorporation into the poster. Talk about serendipity: She had recently finished a painting of Pinetop that no one had seen!” After the painting was approved by the board, Diane painted the Handy award separately, then had the two images morphed together in Photoshop to create the final poster. Diane attended the Awards Ceremony and had a three day showing of her portraits at the adjacent Marriott Hotel. Click here to find out more about the Blues Foundation. To read more about Pinetop Perkins, visit his website at www.pinetopperkins.com.