Joan January
Upstairs Art Gallery Artist

My formal training as a painter culminated at San Jose State University with a masters in abstract shaped canvases. As I continued to paint I was also cultivating other ideas and therefore intermingled abstracts and realistic paintings. Still to this day I am a admirer of realistic paintings and find it easy to paint with enthusiasm both styles. My goal is to bridge the gap between the two styles with greater ease. The love I have for abstract work is rather overwhelming I must say.

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Creativity is a wonderful organic pressure, and by concentrating on the basic elements of design I will continue to strengthen the journey toward mastering my goals.

Mind Candy Series

Painting is a personal emotional experience. The only individual I can bring to the creative process is me. Whether I like it or not, I can only do it my way. I am constitutionally able to let things play their way out. I am partially planned in that I paint with a word in mind. The words are evocative of personal symbols. I try to be unpredictable with my designs and I study the shapes and values until they say “yes”!

As I near the end of a painting, emotion or mood or intuition dictates the changes necessary to bring the disparate parts into a unified whole. If the painting is successful, it will arouse a similar response in the viewer.

Joan's work can be seen at the Upstairs Art Gallery, 306 Center Street, Healdsburg, California.

Contact information for Joan January:
Send me an e-mail at: jan13@pon.net

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