Dina was born in Parma, Italy in 1971. At the age of 11, her father gave her a set of oil paints on the understanding that it would remain just a
hobby, but in reality it has been ever since, her life’s passion and full time profession. After producing her first fully accomplished oil study still life
at 12-13 and a almost full figure oil portrait at 15, she studied at the Scientific Lyceum in Reggio Emilia, the Artistic Lyceum in Bologna, the
Institute of Decorative Arts in Paris, the Charles Cecil Atelier in Florence and history of art courses with the Open University. Dina began her
professional career at the age of 20 painting large public and private commissions in Europe and America before settling in Antigua, with her
husband, Architect Andrew Goodenough, where she continues to combine independent ‘genre paintings’, commission portraits and international
large mural commissions. In the last 25 years her studio has employed a wonderful team of artists from Europe three of which are permanently
based in Antigua.
Her favorite subjects go from traditional portraiture, to colorful Caribbean scenes and, paintings of people’s life stories and characters, addressing
contemporary topics such as religion, sexuality, consumerism, emotional behaviors, life big questions. Her recent journey of recovery from breast
cancer has sparked a desire to explore more abstract images in mixed media as well as more awareness of the suffering of the human condition and
what can really bring us deeper lasting happiness, a theme particularly expressed in her latest exhibition” In Search of Happiness “ .