Artist Statement
A work in
Progress
The experience
of art is a gift, as is the act of creation. It
is the act of creation, which is the ultimate
satisfaction, the process more important than the
product. Art transcends the external
circumstances of life to serve as a means of
spiritual "becoming."
Even before she
could speak, Joanna was drawn to nature,
especially animals, which have become her primary
source of subject matter. Spiritually bound to
nature, she seeks the essence of nature in her
work. Because of this bond between art, nature
and spirituality, Joanna has found it difficult
to create for financial reasons. Deadlines being
anathema and the creative process so integral a
part of her well being, Joanna prefers to work as
an amateur in the field.
Joanna is drawn
to many media, distinguishing her drawings from
painting and sculpture. The former are
"brainwork" and sometimes quite tedious
to make. She draws because she can. On the other
hand, sculpture is pure, meditative joy, coming
from the heart and soul. Paintings tend to become
sculptural in the concentration on mass and form.
She attended the
Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota,
Florida, receiving a certificate of completion in
1981. After a brief period of graphic design work
and freelance illustration, she learned that this
was not a career choice, returning to school to
complete coursework in early childhood education.
While doing so Joanna also fulfilled the academic
requirements for a degree in fine arts. On may 3,
1986 she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from
Ringling in the morning and in the evening, a
Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University
of South Florida. The next fifteen years of
Joanna's life were spent teaching kindergarten.
It took some
years to reconcile to the shift of career focus.
The arts in many forms; visual, musical and
literary, remained a force in her life. With
growing maturity, she has realized that teaching
is as much of a creative art as the so-called
Fine Arts and has been content to make teaching
her source of income.
Drawing, sculpture, painting; these are kept
in the spiritual realm for joy of the process and
as a gift to the creator.
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