Diane Creber – Artist

Diane Creber has always been involved in the arts. Born in Montreal, she moved back and forth from Montreal to Toronto several times during her childhood, finally settling in New York City as her father’s job demanded. While there, she studied painting at the Art Students League of New York, then moved to Toronto and enrolled at the Ontario College of Art, graduating in Design and Illustration. After working as a graphic designer for one year, she decided this career was not for her and enrolled at Sheridan College School of Design, majoring in Ceramics. Upon graduation, Diane established Wilton Pottery. She and her husband, potter, and painter Tim De Rose, worked at Wilton Pottery for over forty years. Recently retired from pottery, Tim now paints full-time, and Diane writes books. She has had three non-fiction, and one novel published and is presently working on another novel.

During her career as a potter, Diane participated in exhibitions throughout Canada, the USA, and Europe, receiving several awards for her work, including being nominated for the 2010 Saidye Bronfman Award, the most prestigious recognition for fine crafts in Canada. Diane worked only in high-temperature porcelain, making production items and one-of-a-kind pieces. She researched a unique glaze technique and wrote about the process. Today her book, Crystalline Glazes, is studied throughout the arts and crafts field in Canada and abroad.

“One of the things I enjoyed most about being a potter was developing glazes and being in control of what I made. This is both a responsibility and freedom, which kept my career both interesting and challenging. I worked only in porcelain as the white clay became a canvas where I used multiple glazes in a painterly style. But working with crystalline glazes was the greatest challenge, as it required knowledge of the chemistry of glazing and the artistic sensitivity to produce a pleasing form; a true marriage of art and science.”