Pine Cross is finished after four long years...

Pine Cross began in a studio in Potomac Maryland over four years ago.  It has been through many iterations while moving in and out of two different studio's.  I have no idea why and how it finally came together, but when I completed the painting last Friday, I felt free of it.  There were over 20 coats on the background which evolved from a base of burnt sienna to purples, teals, pinks and finally a yellow gold.  The final coat has many of these layers showing through it.  It has a luminous ethereal feel to it with specs of pink, yellow and green.  

Pine Cross Gets a Facelift

This latest version of Pine Cross was actually painted last year at "Studio B", Bethesda studio location. This painting is part of my original "Earth Object" series, and the method of painting I developed years ago called "Image Archaeology.  You can read all about Image Archaeology here:  http://imagearchaeologist.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html.

 

The teal background is dark and similar in value to the pine cone itself.  I want to lighten the teal background so that the pine cone stands out more.  In order to do this, I will bring up the value of the teal color by adding white to a mixture of teal and red.

Color Mixing Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TofHckSVAlQ&t=78s
This video shows the color that was mixed to lighten the background of the painting.

Painting After Developing a Lighter Value

The teal background color has been toned down in intensity. by adding a lighter shade of green on its surface.  I used a scumbling method to layer the paint onto the surface. The pine cone has a different feel, and no longer competing with the bright green background color.  It seems to be more at rest in the surrounding environment.

Monday Morning Reds

It struck me this morning that I needed more red in this painting. The pink was too "sweet".  The painting is now starting to get some vibrancy and life.

Art Walk Bethesda at Studio B June 10

Bethesda Art Festival

Upcoming Art Shows:

Saturday, Sunday, May 14-15-  Bethesda Art Festival  

New Studio Location: Studio B in Bethesda

Hi Everyone;

I am pleased to announce my new studio location:
Studio B in Bethesda, Maryland.
7475 Wisconsin Ave.
next door to the Metro Art Tunnel underground.

  

Time...is finished

Time, acrylic, 14 x 30, 2015

This is the first complete painting in my new series, "Thoughts to Think About".  When I was a very young teen, I had a journal which I called "thoughts to think about".

250.00 plus shipping, taxes and handling
sold

Time

Time is evolving...

Pine Cross cont...

Pine Cross continues to evolve but is still not finished.

Pine Cross in process

I am continuing my work on Pine Cross this week.  I started this painting 18 months ago before my move to Missouri to accept a full time teaching position.  I had a long interlude without studio time and posting because of this move and subsequent return to my home area.  Without a lot of explanation...it did not work out.  What is important is to continue the work.  Here we are again.  You can see before and after in this post.  I will continue to post the progress of this work as this blog has always been about painting and the painting process thus a "painter who blogs".  I am moving into a new realm of work.  I will continue my image archaeological works and am beginning to work on words that go with the process.  I plan to publish the works (words) as cards and prints.  More to come on these happenings...for now I hope you "dig" the new work and Namaste.

 Before

After

"Thoughts to Think About".  A new series.  Inspired by a song by Hendrix with the lyric repeated over and over again.

Born in the USA and damn proud of it....eat your heart out Jasper Johns!

I think this is a timely post considering that we are in the middle of a Govy shutdown and there is a disgruntled attitude at present in general around DC.  However, I am one the THE most patriotic people I know and fourth of July is my favorite day.  I had intended to finish these for the celebration this year, but my research took a front seat.  Thus, USA...enjoy!  And I am damn proud to be an American!

USA, Joan Marie Giampa, 12 x 12 inch panels, tryptich, 2013

This work is for sale.  Please send me an email at joni33033@gmail.com.

"Returning to Zero"

Dreams, 1976

I think I am "returning to zero" to quote Robert Redford...
Matthew Rothschild:
"Q: You have this concept that you call "returning to zero." What does that mean?
Redford:
To refresh yourself, you stop and say, "OK, I'm going to take some time off and rethink, and pretend that I'm just starting out again and look at things freshly for the first time." It gives you a kind of energy. It's recharging, and it allows you to keep taking chances rather than getting safe with the ones you've taken."
Source: Matthew Rothschild. "Robert Redford Interview." The Progressive. 6/02/2009. pg. 35.

I remember what it felt like to paint "Dreams".  I was 16 and the song "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac had a huge influence on my work.  I was trying to paint my "crystal visions".  It was magical and I had a passion to "dive" into the canvas--to paint color.  

I want to feel all those feelings again and remove the debris in my mind--cluttered mounds of aesthetic criticism from years of exposure and attempt.  I paint as I have always painted--for me!  That sums it up.  I paint for me!

Storms, 2013

This new image is called "Storms".  I guess it sums up what I am feeling lately.  I am in the process of making some big life changes that will alter my destiny.  They say there comes a time when we choose in life as to whether or not we are going to be a "master" or "slave" of our destiny.  I am focused on neither at the moment.  And for the first time in many years, I am not thinking so much about destiny.  I am focusing on the present--"I am returning to zero"!

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Closing Reception for Anagramation

Closing reception at Red Caboose Gallery tomorrow--Saturday July 20th from 3-5 pm.  Got the summer doldrums...come by and grab some vino or some H20 and enjoy the afternoon with friends,  family and art...

Vienna Artist Digs into Canvases to Give Subjects Depth - Sun Gazette Newspapers: News

Vienna Artist Digs into Canvases to Give Subjects Depth - Sun Gazette Newspapers: News

Caboose Rides Again Tonight

Tonight the gallery re-opens to the public with new works by Joan Marie Giampa: Anagramation.

The opening is from 6-8 pm.  There will be a special sneak preview in the small gallery with works by Jeremy Kunkel.  Jeremy is a former student of Dr. Giampa's at Northern Virginia Community College where he studied color.  Jeremy will have a solo show at the Caboose in November, 2013.

The Show is Heating Up!

The Bridge

The Bridge, 1993, Joan Marie Giampa

I feel as if every painting is a bridge to the next painting. There is no time to reason when working. The term abstract is abstract to me in the sense that everything is abstract beyond the objective. Art is subjective and subject to the analytical. It can be felt and experienced during the creative process as well as during the viewing process. I prefer to feel my way through the process and then analyze afterward--like most. It is difficult to analyze ones work. 

Looping Process,  2004, Joan Marie Giampa

My teachers told me to leave that part to the people who do that best--curators and writers. Language and art is a looping process for this artist. One feeds the other. As a trained visual communicator it was important to decipher the process--deconstruct--in order to teach it. In other words which came first--the picture or the word. We know that symbols or pictures came before words and words can look like symbols, but our conscious mind likes to direct traffic and categorize the words into pictures and pictures into words. 

Its a looping process kind of like the fibonacci spiral. But the question remains, do we need to create a language to be abstract. I think not. I think that a language evolves as the artist evolves and every stroke, color, and texture extruded speaks a truth that is individual to the artist.

SHE

she  (sh) pron.

1. Used to refer to the woman or girl previously mentioned or implied.  Used to refer to a female   animal.

2. Used in place of it to refer to certain inanimate things, such as ships and nations, traditionally perceived as female: "The sea is mother-death and she is a mighty female" (Anne Sexton).

What the heck is a TRA?

Tra (tra) verb

1. Said before departing, a farewell
2. Bye, I'm off to the mall! Tra!

3. Spanish slang meaning "go!"
4. Italian means "between".

On Impulse

Glass House, 1998, Joan Marie Giampa

The word "language" in art is subjective. We use words in our language as tools to communicate with each other. But I feel that we use art to communicate with each other on a perceptual (sensorial) basis and as such there really are no words to describe this experience. I am always open to others ideas and analysis especially when it comes to my work. 

It helps me to grow and connect to others "words" and I enjoy how they connect to my "perceptions" of reality. Again its a looping process and words seem to get in the way at times because they are invented. But sometimes great wordsmiths concoct just the right words to describe just the right feeling. Both are invented during the impulse that propelled them.

An Anagramation of My Name

What an agagram of my name means to me: 
I have a great propensity and innerstate of mind or demeanor for love that is spiritual, not sexual in its nature.

ma·jor  (mjr)adj. 
1. Of or relating to the field of academic study in which a student specializes.

mien  (mn)n.

1. Bearing or manner, especially as it reveals an inner state of mind: "She is an artist with an imaginative mien".

2. An appearance or aspect.  

3.How one conducts oneself.

a·ga·pe   (ä-gäp, äg-p)n.

1. Christianity Love as revealed in Jesus, seen as spiritual and selfless and a model for humanity.

2. Love that is spiritual, not sexual, in its nature.

3. Christianity In the early Christian Church, the love feast accompanied by Eucharistic celebration.