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The Meditator, The Warrior and The Artist
Joanna White
The Meditator, The Warrior, and The Artist
After years of creating a loving home, raising two boys, and teaching difficult special needs students as well as managing a non-profit and lots of personal growth workshops and meditation, I concluded that there was a creative being ready to burst out of me.
The practice of meditation is crucial to my artistic process because in the stillness and silence, I receive impressions of color and nature themes. Meditation directed me to explore many mediums: weaving, spinning, stained glass, beading/jewelry, watercolors, finally settling on fiber art. Fiber ran in my genes….my Dutch grandmother had her own millinery shop in Amsterdam and when she came to this country, she made her living sewing. Fiber led me to painting on silk. The spontaneity and easy manipulation of the dyes on silk was captivating and inspiring. The magic had begun!
Thus began-- my great adventure into the thousand-year history of silk painting, the many types of silk, multiple dyes and exciting techniques used to create rich designs.
Then…the Warrior had to come online. Making art is just the first step. The artist must find venues to show and display her art. There are applications to complete for shows and guilds, fees to be paid and rejections to handle.
Each step of the way the artist must grow stronger in her belief that YES, my work is good. YES others like it enough to purchase. One day, my reputation grew until the Artist—Me arrived!
The art of my being the Artist is more about how I live each day rather than a particularly beautifully executed piece of silk. My days have become my tapestry….woven with the individual threads of my life. I find JOY ineach day and offer each day to the greater good of our world. I invite you to join me. Create with me and share the JOY!
INSPIRATIONS: Quotes that inspire me to create and make!
Creativity is a Spiritual Force.
- Dylan Thomas
Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.
-Leonardo Da Vinci
The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau
What color is in a picture, enthusiasm is in life.
-Vincent Van Gogh
For myself, I have found that being an artist does require enthusiasm even more than discipline. Enthusiasm is the juice, the energy that keeps me re-inventing myself, seeking new ways to create art, taking classes to learn from others and tobe inspired by the constant beauty of the natural world. The Greek meaning of Enthusiasm is to be “filled with God”. We could say the Universe, True Source oreven the beauty of life. With enthusiasm my art becomes play not work. This play is reflected in the medium I chose and is a tangible and feeling thing!
Lastly, there are these quotes:
If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.
- Vincent Van Gogh
Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almostenchanted after all.
- Vincent Van Gogh
Techniques
There is a special magic that happens when dyes hit silk and move and swirl andour manipulated by me to create patterns and designs. Painting on silk is like flying in skies of light. Silk is a living breathing entity. When we marry the radiance of silk with the magic of the human heart and mind-- creation happens. The techniques are the tools of creation:
- Watercolor Techniques create eddies and lines and ripples of color.
- Faux Batik is the layering of wax and dyes on silk to create patterns and designs.
- Shibori is an ancient Japanese technique of tying and clamping silkthen dyeing the silk to form patterns.
- Joomchi is an ancient Korean technique of felting mulberry paper with water and friction to create fabric that ripples with color and magic.
- Weaving painted silk is a lovely way to use ribbons of silk to create shawls and scarves.
- Eco-printing on silk or paper creates magic using plants and natural dyes. It is like bringing the forest into the studio.
Career Highlights
When I began painting silk at the age of 60, I set a personal goal for myself and that was to be juried into the three North Carolina Craft and Art Guilds. In 2015, I juried into the Carolina Craftsmen Guild based in Raleigh, NC which accepted artists from all over the country. I did many shows with them over the following years. Unfortunately, Covid caused the demise of the organization that began in 1969.
2017 was a magic year because in October of 2017 after moving to the Appalachian Chain of Mountains in Asheville, NC, I was juried into the prestigious and revered Southern Highlands Craft Guild and then later that year was accepted into the Piedmont Craftsmen Guild based in Winston-Salem, NC. A dream and avision accomplished.
Through the years there have been many shows, exhibits and opportunities to teach with the following organizations:
- John C Campbell Folk Art School in Brasstown, NC
- Silk Painter’s International Festivals at Arrowmont Craft School in Gatlinburg, TN
- Sawtooth School of Visual Art, Winston-Salem, NC
- Highpoint University, High Point, NC
- Arts for Life in Mission Hospital, Asheville, NC
- Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, Blowing Rock, NC
- Many local schools, libraries, and home school groups.
Chloe, my rescue Golden and my dearest friend!
Wearing Hand-dyed Sibori Silk Tunic with Chloe
GALLERY
Silk Tunic on Silk Twill
Beautiful Sherbet Colored Tunic in Rippled Silk
My Silk Paintings are influenced by nature
My forever friend, Heidi Rose Robbins...
Listen to our Podcast
Joanna White: Now I Become Myself
The Radiance Project
Painting Silk scarf with dyes and soy wax
Chloe and I in the woods of Fairview NC
