Diane Edwards was born in western North Dakota to second-generation Norwegian parents. Her grandmothers and her mother shared this Norwegian heritage with her and inspired her to study Norwegian rosemaling and Swedish dalmålning. At age seven, Diane decided that she would be an artist and a teacher and never swerved from that goal. Diane opened a shop in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1976 and began extensive studies with her mentor, Jackie Klokseth. She met Sigmund Aarseth in 1977 and studied with him for many years, becoming close friends and eventually writing a book with him on Telemark rosemaling.

Diane spends much of her time painting landscapes of North Dakota and Colorado. She has won many awards and is a Master Signature pastelist. In 1989, she moved to Colorado and earned her Master’s Degree in Art and Education from Adams State University. Diane has taught nine years of public school art and seven years as a college professor in painting and drawing. She has written nine books on Norwegian rosemaling and two on Swedish folk art. Her greatest love in art, besides painting, is doing research on our Scandinavian heritage of folk art.