About Teresa Dilsaver
I have always loved to draw. I started oil painting after watching Bob Ross on TV and discovering Painters Corner, Dorothy Dent’s studio, only a few miles from my home. I usually have at least one of her instruction books close at hand while I paint.
Many of my compositions include landscapes highlighting antique machinery, such as hit-n-miss gasoline engines, steam engines and antique tractors. I have painted on anything from hog oilers to six foot crosscut saws. My family has been involved in the Early Days Gas Engine and Tractor Association for several years. As a result, my artwork appeared on the 1996 National show button.
I see so many bridges, old barns and buildings that are not going to be around much longer. I love the idea of capturing them on canvas or old saws. I take pictures or draw potential subjects that catch my eye when going on walks and drives through the country or by seeing old machinery in fields or at antique engine shows. I’ll choose a barn from one photo, put it with a sky from another, an antique engine or vehicle from a different photo and continue this procedure until I have the idea for my next painting.
I hope my work will inspire people to look at the landscape around them. To see the purple in a sunset, to observe how many bright pinks, blues, and yellows occur in nature, or to notice how many shades of green appear in summer foliage. To appreciate the beauty in an old rusty tractor, a rundown shed or a farm that’s been around for 100 years.
I like to personalize my work, to give people a way to remember their past. It is so rewarding when I can capture a childhood home or a family farm. I enjoy being able to give people a gift that helps them remember their past or see their future. I seem to do my best work when I am creating those special pieces.
