East Greenbush woman combines pet passion with artistic talent
Diane Bollman-Buyer of East Greenbush has quite the life.
"I was a former director of the Allegheny County Office for the Aging. Then I was promoted to New York state. I was the first long-term care ombudsman in the state of New York," she explained.
However, she’s always had a passion for drawing.
She loves to draw children.
Then her thoughts turned to animals by way of a strange and funny incident.
"I was up at my camp and I had my art stuff, and I saw all this black tar stuff, and I went ‘What is it? Is the roof leaking?’ Well, I caught a mouse in my palette, and the mouse had gone out and had walked and trailed the paint,"
She knew that had to be a children’s book and "Pierre, Ze Famous Artist" was brought to life.
The school volunteer then wrote her second book, "Pierre’s Forever Family," after getting a rescue dog.
Now she’s started a business called DB’s Originals, where she draws family pets.
A renaissance woman who is now 78, she did her first 5K at 74, and recently entered a soap box derby and won.
Learn what she says her driving force is by watching the video of Elaine Houston’s story.
You can contact Bollman-Buyer at Diane.artist@gmail.com.