Fridays After 5 Featuring

SDA National President Karen Roman

SDA’s member spotlight Fridays After 5 showcases the varied creative, fun, adventurous, or interesting achievements our members accomplish after business hours.  

Today's Fridays After 5 features Karen Roman. Karen is Business Manager of Intergroup Architects headquartered in Littleton, Colorado, and is the 2020-2021 National SDA President. With the stresses of running a national organization as well as managing the finances of a highly successful architecture firm, a creative outlet is just the ticket for a mental break.

For Karen, that creative outlet is creating vivid shimmering works of art using a technique called diamond drill painting or diamond painting. The “diamonds” are tiny resin rhinestones applied one at a time.

If this mesmerizing craft is unlike anything you have seen before that’s likely because it was only introduced to North America and Europe in 2017.  News sources report that the popularity of diamond painting is exploding due to the endless variety of options, the calming effect of placing the diamonds, and the ease of getting started to name a few. 

Karen paused recently to share some insider information on her favorite craft. Our Q&A is below. 

Do you have a favorite craft or meditative outlet? Let us know! Drop a line to admin@sdanational.org using the  subject line “Fridays After 5”. 

Diamond Painting Q&A with Karen Roman

What is diamond painting? It's a bit of a cross between paint by number and cross stitching. You have a canvas with a pattern on it, marked off in tiny grids with symbols. The canvas is sticky in areas where you apply (using a tool dipped in wax) very small multi-faceted plastic drills, matching the drill color to the symbol on the grid.2.

When did you discover diamond painting? I saw advertisements on Facebook last February. I mentioned it to a co-worker who told me her daughter did diamond painting and loved it, so I decided to give it a try.

How difficult is diamond painting? Are the kits expensive? It's not hard, you just need a lot of patience. It's very affordable, most kits are under $15.00 for a 12 x 16 canvas. It can take a long time to complete if you only do it sporadically. I usually work on two or three projects at the same time, alternating between them. I typically finish at least two each month.

What do you enjoy most about the process? It's very relaxing to me, and I like that I can listen to books or shows at the same time. Plus it's fun to see the print take shape

Do you share your art or do it mainly for yourself? Mainly for myself, although I have given several as gifts. In addition to canvases, you can also make greeting cards and ornaments, so I do that as well. Because I've done, and continue to do so many, I hope when the pandemic is behind us that I can offer some of my framed pieces to a senior living home for people who perhaps don't have anything to brighten the walls of their rooms.

Any advice for SDA members who want to give it a try? Go to my favorite shopping site, Amazon, and search diamond drill painting. You'll need a light table (not expensive) and that's about it. Be sure to use the SDA Amazon site!