Diane Dempsey

Photo by Luke Beck

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My work:  I design and illustrate my own line of greeting cards, posters and gifts. Inspired by Retro American Culture.
 

My passion:  Lindy Hop - The Granddaddy of Swing Dance.
 

I love:  A Swing Era event at the Coliseum with a real Big Band.
 

My favorite possession:  My collection of Vintage Clothes that belonged to my Mother & Grandmother.
 

My best bargain find:  An Atomic Age gold metallic dress from the early 1960’s for a buck!
 

My hometown:  St. Pete!
 

I’m thinking about:  The 1960’s - the mid-century modern era.
 

Words I live by: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
 

I can’t live without:  Swing Music by Chick Webb, Benny Goodman, Louis Jordan...
 

I am most proud of: Our creation of something from nothing, WhatsBuzzin.com.
 

I’m inspired by:  Old Movies from the 1930’s and '40's.
 

What keeps me awake at night:  New inspiration - knowing I will never live long enough to express all of the ideas in my head.
 

One thing I never want to do again:  Scrape ice off a windshield.
 

If I could be totally wild, I would:  Go out dancing with my husband 3 times a week.
 

I am guilty of: Talking like an Army wife of the 1950’s. I have these weird expressions that are in my conversation that I picked up from my Mom - makes folks look at me like I’m from ...well, the 1950’s.
 

Right now I’m reading: The Grapes Of Wrath.
 

The one item that has changed my life: Macintosh computers, and a digital drawing tablet.
 

Favorite website: www.WhatsBuzzin.com.
 

Last major purchase:  Mini Cooper 2003.
 

The nickname I wish I had:  Betty.
 

My theme song:  La vie en rose.
 

If I could do it all over again:  I would have moved from Atlanta where I worked as Art Director for the Cabbage Patch Kids in the ‘80’s up to New York City - at least for a year or two, before coming home.
 

My favorite body part: My feet - as Fats Waller says they’re gun boats but they let me swing out on the dance floor!
 

The food I could eat every day:  Mexican food, especially the Guac on the Mexican Riviera.
 

The food I never want to eat again:  chicken & dumplings.
 

The most important thing I ever lost:  Georgie the Cat.
 

The best thing I ever won: First Place in the vintage fashion contest at Swing Dance USA.
 

My best friend says I am: a throwback.
 

I still can’t get the hang of:  The Russian Kick swing aerial.
 

I wish I’d known: That there was a Swing Era renaissance going on in the late 90’s while I was listening to Depeche Mode. What a dork.
 

The world would be a better place, if only:  Folks could lose their self consciousness and just have some light hearted fun.
 

I’d like to learn to:  Speak another language.
 

Something most people don’t know about me: I have a crush on Gary Cooper.
 

My mother always said: Is that what you’re wearing?
 

My first job: Teaching kids art & how to swim at Summer Camp.
 

Whose diary would you most like to read? Kate Hepburn.
 

What do you fear the most? My Grandmother always said - “If we run outta money they’re gonna come take us away.” Not sure who “they” are, or where we are going, but that does it for me.
 

Best one-liner you ever heard:  Last night I shot an elephant in my Pajamas and how he got in my pajamas I’ll never know. - Groucho Marx
 

Early bird or night owl?: Early bird - never could do an all nighter - even in ArtSchool.
 

Favorite color and why?:  Green - First new growth, Caribbean water, twist of lime in a Vodka tonic... ok, money.
 

I feel strongest when: On a hardwood dance floor with a boogie woogie beat swingin’ out eight to the bar... Like “Let Me Off Uptown” with Gene Kruppa, Lyrics by Anita O’Day
 

When I grow up, I want to be: A combination of Nora Charles, The Thin Man (1934) & Scarlett O’Hara. Nora - the witty, stunningly beautiful wife teams up with her husband in the family business & martini drinking, and makes the whole experience fun for both of them... and Scarlett who always has the belief that she will make things work out - “Tomorrow IS another day”!
 

I wish… Folks would dress & behave in classic style, there were still ladies & gentlemen... it’s ok to hold the door for a lady, really it is.