OyChicago articles

You know that one house were all the kids want to play after school because they have the best toys?

In my case, it was my friend Cara’s house. Her mom, Diane Bronstein, created the best art projects for us to do and she would let us rummage through her art collections. We spent hours in her mom’s jewelry studio in the basement making necklaces and bracelets out of her “extra” beads and playing with art materials that were deemed “too messy” in my own home.

Diane is the cool mom. A painter, photographer, jewelry designer and all around artistic maven, she fills her home…and businesses with art and creativity.

“My loves are painting, drawing, photography and design,” Bronstein explained. “Somehow I manage to always incorporate that in every business.”

Bronstein has had an eclectic career. From heading up advertising for a decorative accessories company, to owning several of her own business, including Mrs. B’s Quality Kits, to painting furniture, she has traveled extensively and studied art throughout Europe.

Last summer, Cara got married and with it a new idea was born.

“I had already been painting and sketching every type of dress you can imagine” she said. “I had been doing that for years now.”

Then she went wedding dress shopping with her daughter.

“There is that one dress... that perfect dress .... that many girls have thought about since they were little,” she said. “It dawned on me, a painting preserves that very special dress in a very special way.”

And so the notion for Custom Wedding Dress Paintings was born. With Cara her first customer.

“We thought it would be a beautiful keepsake,” she said. “And also thought it would be pretty for her to use as thank you cards from her wedding as one last homage to her beautiful dress.”

The concept has since taken off.

“Everyone who saw the dress portrait loved it,” she said. “Requests started coming in to make paintings of the wedding dresses for brides from photos of their weddings. Today I wrote my first "gift certificate" that is being given to a bride at her wedding.”

“It does not matter how old we are or how long ago we got married,” she said. “We will never forget our dress. And wouldn't it be lovely if we all had a painting of that special dress....”

To learn more about Custom Wedding Dress Paintings, visit http://dianebronstein.com or http://www.etsy.com/shop/DianeBronstein.