My Process
Joanna’s art combines the richness of intense of colors, thick and thin mediums, and unique collage material. She experiments with unusual bits and pieces of found elements which require different application techniques. Having lived a long life, she has a deep pool to draw from. While she loves color, it is quite possible to find some of her pieces conveying an understated and subtle conversation.
Joanna says, “I am deeply attracted to abstraction”, so this is the language she often chooses. For her, it’s all about finding her way as she goes. Much like wandering down a previously unknown Montana trail into the woods, finding her own path promises unseen vistas and surprising raw beauty. Joana integrates her life into her artistic journey; she embraces her joy and grief and renders that continuum on her canvases. Large gestures, mark making, and Joanna’s pure intuition is the alchemy that results in images ranging in size from bold 5X6 foot canvases to vibrant 12X12 inch prints that light up small corners.
Joanna King
Thirty years ago, I escaped from California to Whitefish, Montana and never looked back. John Steinbeck said it best, “I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love, and it's difficult to analyze love when you're in it.” I enjoy living in this colorful, vibrant abstract world, Montana is an endless moment of beauty and harmony. I engage in my own quiet battle against this increasingly crazy world. Quiet reflective thoughts, that some call meditation, keep me centered; if I can’t quiet my thoughts, I can’t create.
In early life, I always knew on some level I was an artist. However, due to some lifelong notions, I believed that the calling was not mine, unless I had a fine arts degree. Growing up in an era when a collage education was the only path to success, it was easy for me to be sucked into the belief that being an artist wasn’t realistic. I held on to that notion even though I had a family member who was an accomplished artist. What a total waste of time and a ridiculous idea that was! Exactly when I decided to claim the artist inside me, I experienced a breakthrough. I realized my true self, the artist inside me, had been stalking my subconscious for many years finally and it won my heart and soul. Being creative is who I am. In the past, I had designed hair, was featured in Vogue, designed events, homes, interiors, countless kitchens, and jewelry. My passion for creating was always there. Now it is utterly unavoidable, essential, and evergreen.
