Artist Spotlight: Molly Dimeo

Get ready to see florals in a whole new light! Molly Dimeo walks us through her creative background and how there is more than meets the eye in flowers and nature. 

You are a third generation graduate of The Rhode Island School of Design. Can you tell us about the creativity that runs through your family?

As a toddler, day and night I was painting with whatever I could get my hands on. The creative gene in my family is undeniable and unstoppable. I am the sixth woman my family and the first third generation to graduate from Rhode Island School of Design. While we all speak the same artistic language from our Ala Mater training we have no repeat majors. As I grew they inspired me to look, question, explore, admire, play with many different media at arms length. I tribute so much to my family who raised me to be the person and Artist I am. 

What made you start painting florals?

My Nana who graduated from RISD in Landscape Arch 1955 and an avid gardener created a botanical oasis of the six acre home in southern Rhode Island she and my grandfather shared for over sixty years. With several gardens, a pond, pastures, stone walls and hidden animal sculptures in the woods my time there and memory of it is sacred. The joy of gardening caring for plans and sketching them was learned here from my grandmother and mother. 

You have touched many corners of the country working in D.C, Manhattan, Palm Beach, Los Angeles and now Miami with your fiancé (congratulations!). Has that had an impact on your work?   

I am an explorer by nature and have had the privilege of living in  D.C, Manhattan, Palm Beach, L.A. and Miami for at least 12 months each since receiving my B.F.A. The impact it has had on my artwork is a deep understanding in changes in light, terrain, haze and clarity of sky the differences in sunrises and sets—the nuanced changes that I did not expect is what has been has been fueling my inspiration. 

You paint florals in an interesting way, would you consider them representational?

Learned from my family of Artists, I'm always looking with a curious eye. When I am studying a 'thing'—whether a bug on ledge, a cloud in the sky, or any botanical—I'm asking myself a series of questions. If it were a meme what would it be? What’s its history and little life journey? The personality it’s giving off. Flowers are humble, sweet, soft, ever changing, with so much personality yet simplicity. That's what I'm translating into each painting.