Featured Artist Joanne Schoener Scott

Vibrant color and bold design are the hallmark of artist Joanne Schoener Scott’s captivating mixed media paintings. Visit her website to see more of her art.

 

 

I was born in Venezuela and lived in South America as a child. My parents moved to Europe when I was a teenager. Creating art for me has been a lifelong passion and I began my formal training at an art school in Scotland before immigrating to the United States in 1980. Here, I finished my degree in Fine Art, and worked as a Graphic Designer for several years. Returning to painting full time started after my children finished high school.

 

 

Having Hispanic and British Caribbean roots spices my artwork with rich cultural diversity. It begins with a very personal reaction to the subject—a strong emotional response to what I see and experience. The result is vibrant acrylic color fused with mixed media. Why acrylic? It’s expressive, exciting and forgiving!

 

 

The majority of my subjects are from nature; living, organic, constantly in motion. To say I adore animals is an understatement.

 

 

My paintings start their journey with the desire to express the emotional feeling I experience when I observe them. My goal is to share this with others, to open their eyes to what is around them. Especially in this hurried, technological world where the culture lends itself to the individual looking inward, instead of outward.

 

 

I want my artwork to make them stop to intimately appreciate instead of just bustling by. Color is my muse and the very first comment I receive from anyone who has viewed my work is, “I love your use of color!”

 

 

I use my own photographs or royalty free resources as a starting point. My graphic design background provides a solid armature in my compositions. Some paintings begin their voyage with handmade papers, household items and various molding pastes, which harden to create different textures. Over these mediums acrylic paint, inks and dyes are brushed, wiped or delicately glazed over the surface.

 

 

I have been experimenting with different substances and materials like oils, Saran Wrap and rubbing alcohol—discovering repelling qualities or producing unexpected visual effects.

 

 

This is where the excitement of the process can often times lead the painting in a totally different direction than originally intended! In my studio, not much planning is happening after I have decided on a subject for a painting. Like my own personality, my work is restless, volatile and expressive; it takes on its own life, bursting forward, making mistakes!

 

 

The beautiful perfection of the natural world will always captivate me and sharing that with others is so vital to me. My home is the beautiful Pacific Northwest, but no matter where I live, the best feeling is being at an artist reception or art festival and talking with people, hearing their stories.

 

 

Listening to how my work touches them and relates to their lives is such a joy and a blessing! This has led to expanding my business to making custom-sized reproductions of my work, fitting an individual’s personal needs and home décor. We always hear that art is subjective, and making people happy is such an honor for me.

 

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