He(ART) of Bellevue Artist:
Dina Ayoub
Seattle Painter Finds Refuge in Abstract Art
Seattle artist Dina Ayoub believes art is all about feelings. After living many years as a product manager in the tech industry and writing a fantasy novel, she's come to realize that she enjoys life the most when she’s creating.
“Art makes me feel calm, inspired and happy. I get to create in so many ways and that is what I find most fulfilling,” Ayoub said.
She has always loved painting and prefers oil as her medium of choice. According to Ayoub, art is a refuge and an important way to improve mental health.
"Painting is my way of pouring my inner-self onto the canvas, which is why my paintings are often colorful and complex - sometimes as an expression of how I feel, and other times as an expression of how I wish I felt,” she said.
Ayoub is now the owner of Dee’s Fine Art, selling her art online and in person at art shows and festivals. You can see her work in person at the Bellevue Downtown Arts Market, Sept. 4-6.
BDA: What type of art do you create?
DA.: I create fluid, abstract, and fantasy landscape art in the form of acrylic and oil paintings. I paint Fantasy landscapes when I’m feeling inspired and have that sense of wonder about how magnificent our natural world is. I express it in a more fantastical way as a lens for the viewer through which to see my world - a world that is always vibrant and wonderful, even in the darkest of nights.
BDA: How long have you been practicing your type of art?
DA: I discovered my love for painting over 14 years ago and have experimented with many different techniques and mediums. I have been working on my favorite current techniques since 2017.
BDA: Where did you learn or develop your technique?
DA: I am a self-taught artist, so most of my initial learning was through YouTube videos and a lot of trial and error. For every beautiful painting, I probably have 20 that I’ve painted over while learning that technique!
BDA: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you and your artwork?
DA: Like many artists, COVID-19 has been really hard on me as most of my income was from art festivals. My art business unfortunately took a nosedive in 2020. I had a lot of free time on my hands so I took that as an opportunity to learn new things and get a job to make up for the lost income.
BDA: What is your latest project?
DA: My latest project has been learning to make digital art on my iPad Pro! It has been a lot of fun discovering how much easier some things are in digital art, as well as how much harder other things are! For example, I’ve found it a lot easier (and faster) to paint beautiful skies digitally, but a lot harder to paint realistic mountains. I have also continued working on my women’s health collection of abstract paintings, with my latest work incorporating a lot of texture and metallic colors.
BDA: Where can people learn more about your art?
DA: You can learn more about me and purchase my art on my website.
BDA: Anything else you'd like to share with the Bellevue community?
DA: My biggest hope in creating art is to share with my patrons some sense of peace and wonder that art brings me. It’s been a long and challenging road to get an art business up and running with no backup or art network, and I’m sure there will be countless struggles to come, but if just one person looks at one of my paintings on their wall and feels a little better that day, that makes it all worth it. I have different social media accounts if you would like to follow me:
Started in 2020, this blog is part of our He(ART) of Bellevue blog series. Each week leading up to the Bellevue Downtown Arts Market, we'll feature a participating local artist and their story. Support all artists who will be attending this year's in-person arts market by browsing their artwork and portfolios.
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