may 2002 - Joanne Edwards

online exhibition

Ault Park in Full Bloom
1995-1997, 28" x 24", oil on canvas/ wood frame

As with many of my works, this was begun in August of 1995 on site, blending together the next few months in my studio, and adding the finishing painted frame in August, 1997. Working this way and examining the works for several months hanging in my studio gives me insight on how I want to finish a painting. The amount of color in this scene was overwhelming on the hot summer day it was created, and the examination period helped me to tone down its original brilliancy.

Inside Ash Cave #2
August 1997, 72" x 64", oil on 3 hinged stretch canvas/fabric back tryptic screen

"Inside Ash Cave #1" work began in June, 1996, with a vacation to Hocking Hills. I spent the week returning to the sight at different times, studying and photographing the cave in different lighting situations. I completed the week with three pastel studies and two rolls of film. Back in my studio, I toped together 12 photos for one cave composition. I then planned my canvas sizes, stretched, hinged, and did a preliminary drawing on the gessoed canvasses, returning to Hocking Hills mid-October, 1996 to work on the painting. I rented a cabin for a week and carted all my gear on a daily hiking trip up the trail "inside" the cave and worked from 10:00am until 4:00pm each day (that it did not rain) with the main light centered around 2:00pm. I took the 'plein air' painting of "Inside Ash Cave #1" to my studio to recreate the cave in 1997, as a much larger screen. Working in this way allowed me to stand back and examine what I liked or disliked. It was hard to copy brush strokes that just seemed to have 'happened' on the original work, however, some new 'happenings' occurred with the screen. The final result was rewarding.

Devil's Bathtub Hocking Hills
April 1998, 22" x 28", oil on canvas/frame

Part of my 1997 excursion to Hocking Hills included a morning painting at this intriguing wonder on the other side of the Old Man's Cave gorge trail. It was a little precarious setting my easel so close to the edge as boy scouts and big dogs trailed around me. As interesting the site was to paint, so too were two daredevil twelve year old boys as I watched them jump in and be swooped under the bridge with whoops and hollers. They repeated their performance, over and over unconcerned with the dangers of this natural wonder, becoming God's water park.

Clifty Falls
October 1998, 24" x 48", 48" x 52", 24" x 48", oil on canvas-tryptic

I had heard of the Clifty Falls Park when I traveled to Madison, Indiana in 1997 on the American Queen although I didn't get a chance to visit the park then. I first studied the falls in February, 1998 and then planned a trip for the coming spring. I first created this work much smaller, descending down the hiking trails some fifty or more steps to the landing. I spent the day at this site and discovered the light between 1:00 and 2:00 to be my favorite. I then recreated this larger tryptic in my studio, from the original on site study.

Artist's Summer Cove
April 2001, 22" x 28", 22" x 28", 22" x 28", oil on three canvases-tryptic

Begun summer of 1999, these canvases shared the tranquility of being out on our shaded dock, during the cool summer days. Shaded by a Shagbark Hickory tree, I was able to watch nature and the boaters go by with the tranquil sounds from the lake. I worked in my studio later that year on these canvases and finished that spring.

Tomahawk Summer
February 2001, 18" x 30", 36" x 30", 18" x 30", oil on three canvases-tryptic

This painting was a long, hot struggle to complete. I began summer of 1999, with the sun pouring down upon me. A breeze now and then helped me continue painting on sight throughout the days, working two days on each piece outside. After the color and composition was in place from on site work, I began the long process of constructing the perspective into place, painting with a 'wide angle' viewpoint. Two years working on and off on these canvases, the work was complete.

Geronimo Winter
March 2001, 28" x 22", 28" x 22", 28" x 22", oil on three canvases-tryptic

These canvases began in January, 2000, on a cold sunny day. I worked vigorously in the snow for about three hours, breaking to warm up in my car several times. With a new digital camera I received for a Christmas gift, I was able to capture a lot of the day on disk, without freezing too long painting on sight. Back in my studio the following days and into the next winter, I completed the piece from photos.

Little Turtle Spring
March 2001, 26" x 32", 26" x 32", oil on two canvases-diptych

Spring of 2000 was short and windy. I was ready to give up on this Diptych, not long after I started. I had to paint and hold my palette with one hand and hold onto my canvas & easel with the other, standing on the dock. Brush work was loose and sketchy on sight, but the colors of spring were captured. The following spring, I was able to finish with more notes taken on sight and working in my studio.

Little Turtle Fall
April 2001, 26" x 36", 26" x 36", oil on two canvases-diptych

The days I spent painting these pieces on sight were wonderful. The weather was beautiful and the shade of the trees made this painting a delight to work on. Most of the composition and color was finished on sight, working two (2), six hour days outside. The fine tuning however takes several weeks working in my studio. The more information I gain on sight however, makes the painting far more rewarding to finish.

contact info

Joanne Edwards
1109 Lanette Drive
Cincinnati, OH 45230

Phone: (513) 231-1536
Fax: (513) 231-0264
Email: PleinArtJoanne@Aol.com