After a while, Diane Culhane’s art that begins as language becomes a narrative.

The ceramic artist does acrylics on canvas or wood panel by sketching and layering with up to eight layers of acrylic paint. Then she’ll draw and paint again.

“It starts to become a conversation between myself and the visual world … a small vignette, just like a short story, which is open to interpretation of the viewer,” said Culhane, who has featured her work at the Bellevue Arts Museum ArtsFair since 2002.

Most currently owner and arts educator for children at the Kelsey Creek Fine Arts School, the Seattle resident has also taught painting for the Bellevue School District and Bellevue Arts Museum.

Her completed tile projects include the Bellevue Downtown Public Library Story Time tunnel and Bennett Elementary.

At this year’s ArtsFair, Culhane features her series titled “Sitting on Air.” Her work ranges from $78 for wood blocks to $2500.

“I love the fair and the collectors who come by and feeling the excitement in the air,” Culhane said. She also owns her Ballard studio, Building C. “The collectors are really savvy and pick up the pieces that really speak to them.”

So far, her style has been unprecedented, she said.

Her work is done in her “own handwriting” and comes from a place that “nobody else can find.”

For information, visit www.dianeculhaneart.com.