Dianne Gillis-Robinson
ON DISPLAY
September 1 - November 27
RECEPTION
September 17 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Wood, Water and Stone: The Language of Landscapes
Montgomery Museum’s next major exhibit features painter Dianne Gillis-Robinson.
Dianne Gillis-Robinson paints mostly in oils and pastels and is partial to landscapes, but also does still-life and animal paintings. The exhibit is unusual in that there is nary an acrylic in the show. Many works began with a hot pink underpainting.
Gillis-Robinson has lived in many different places and climates from Houston to Maine to Anchorage and now Montgomery County, and her landscapes celebrate the different biomes.
She lives on top of a mountain outside Blacksburg, and an artist could paint the view from her studio window ten times and never get tired of it. Her husband’s apple orchard is in the foreground, and the Blue Ridge Mountains provide the backdrop. Bears are frequent visitors if you want an interesting focal point. Gillis-Robinson says our area is a joy for a landscape painter. She and her husband decided to retire here after their children attended Virginia Tech. The nomadic life was wonderful, but they appreciate finally finding a home. Local paintings feature the Cascades and the Virginia Creeper Trail. There are also paintings from Alaska including one of her favorite hiking trails.
Dianne Gillis-Robinson is largely self-taught, but she studied at Art League Houston under Laura Spector, who hails from Thailand. Dianne is also a popular workshop teacher, who had 23 pupils when she lived in Maine. Her paintings sell internationally. She is especially gratified when one of her works has a personal meaning for the buyer. A painting of a corn stalk was purchased by a man who had lived in Iowa, where he grew up with cornstalks as far as the eye could see.
This exhibit will be on display throughout September, October, and November. The public is invited to a reception on September 17, 2026, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Montgomery Museum in Christiansburg.