La Belle du Jardin is by Dyan Padgett, a Minneapolis painter who spent six years training in the Atelier method and paints florals with the color sensibility of the Boston School. At 24 x 30 inches, this peony is larger than life, and the scale lets her work through every turn of the petals: warm cream light on the edges, cooler blush shadows folded into each ruffle, and a red flare that pulls you straight into the center. Her painting Twilight was juried into the 2026 Sylvia Maria Glesmann Floral Exhibition at the Salmagundi Club in New York, on view through December 4. It’s her second year in the show. Last year her painting Mother’s Day was accepted into the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibit and sold on the first day.

Visit Dyan’s Studio This Fall

Dyan paints in Studio 200 at the Northrup King Building, and she has several open days coming up:

• Trick ART Treat: Saturday, October 31, noon to 6pm
• Art Attack: November 13–15 (Friday 5–9pm, Saturday noon–8pm, Sunday noon–5pm)
• Holiday Saturdays: November 28 and December 5, noon to 4pm

Dyan’s events · Original oils · Prints · dyanpadgett.com

Planning to Enter a Competition This Winter?

Every one of those shows started with a photograph. For an online entry, the juror never sees your painting, only the file, and several good deadlines fall between now and February. I keep an updated list of art competitions for Minneapolis artists here, along with what makes a strong jury image. If you’re planning to enter anything this winter, now is a good time to get your paintings photographed, before the holidays fill the calendar.