Diane M. Ritche, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, has been an active Watercolor Painter painter since 1988. She studied for a time with Rhonda van Pelt and Lorene Lovell in Pueblo, CO, and had a one-woman show at "Images by Joan", a gallery and photography studio in Pueblo, in October 1990.
The Native Americans she met in her extensive travels throughout the Southwest and the Great Plains inspired her earlier works. Influenced by their connection with nature, she takes most of her current inspiration from the wildlife and scenery of Colorado, where she has resided since 1984.
Painting in the Realist tradition, she specializes in wildlife art. Capturing fine details of anatomy and the effects of light, her portraits of raptors, waterfowl, and otheranimals take on their own personalities.