Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Vienna Virginia had a huge snow a few weeks ago. The timing was providential as I was invited to paint an image for the cover of Viva Tyson Magazine. The owner asked me to do the caboose in the snow. Apparently he loved my other caboose painting. When I was a child I would paint a snow scene every year at Christmas, so this is in alignment with my true spirit.

This has been an amazing year in so many ways for this artist. I opened a gallery and studio and school all in the same venue/space. I have had the opportunity to work with so many people. I really feel blessed to have the opportunity to do this. I also established the Arts Alliance of Vienna. We are working together in a symbiotic relationship to bring a greater awareness of art to the greater Vienna area.

My personal life took many turns this year as well. I separated from my husband after eleven years and wish him well. My daughter Giovanna is getting ready to graduate from College. She has taken after her mom in that she is a computer graphic artist. She will be residing in Venice, Italy full time next year. I will miss her as she is my heart. My son, Jeremy, the football player for Madison Highschool will graduate this year. He is off to school in the fall as an accounting major. He will, of course, do well. My younger boys, Aubrey and John Nicholas are doing well in their new school, Vienna Elementary. We moved this summer back into town. I am a true townie. I also went to Vienna Elementary school, so it is a natural fit for them.

I am preparing to finish my coursework in the doctorate program at George Mason this spring. After four long and hard years, I will finally advance to candidacy and prepare the ground for my dissertation. Hopefully by spring of next year I will be finished and everyone in the hotel industry can address me as Dr. Giampa. My greatest wish is to land a full time teaching position so I can finally begin to relax a little and enjoy my life without all the extra work involved in a doctorate program.

My wish is that all the children in the world have warm beds to sleep in and a full belly. God bless you and happy new year.

A Pilots View, Acrylic, 60" x 60", 2009

"Pilots View" is a painting that is inspired by a friend of mine who is a pilot. He flies to the middle east, Australia, and Hawaii frequently to deliver packages from America. I often wonder what the earth looks like from a "pilots view". If I were to imagine the sky from above, I would see little bubbles of light that flicker through the clouds to expose the earth below. I have embellished a little in this painting, as the view is skewed, as the pilots perspective is beyond the flying range somewhere in outer space.

A pilots life must be filled with adventure. Pilots must  have many good friends in different parts of the world.  Pilots are special people indeed!  Their lives are truly blessed with the gift of flight and the ability to wander the earth in search of themselves.

Pod Widow, Acrylic on canvas, 66 x 66

I am staying in this pink and purple pallete from summer. The pod was found one evening when I took my sons to their playground in the school yard. It was left behind on the bench and I came upon much like I do all my earth objects with unexpected pleasure. The gift was that it was there waiting for me and so I took it home and photographed it and then added it to my magnolia pod collection.

I was at a friends house this past weekend for a social event and had some show cards with the original "Ipod" image on them. It was the first of my earth object series. Someone mentioned that it looked like a penis. I never thought of it that way. To me it looks like a beautiful magnolia pod that has been embedded into the ground of my painting.

This pod is passionate and still and she waits for a brighter future.

Rapunzels Tower, 100" x 36", acrylic on canvas

I have often wondered what happened to Rapunzel after she galloped off into the sunset with her gallant lover the charming prince. It occurs to me that Rapunzel may of had a difficult time adjusting to the "real world" after living in that tower for many long years. Her moral code must of been so finely established that when she engaged with the prince--her mirror-- she was not prepared for his world of instant chat rooms, Face book, Twitter, text messaging and skype.

You see Rapunzel spent many years honing her moral, and spiritual code of etchics--to a degree of such extreme rigidness and perfection--that she discovered she was more alone with her prince than when she lived by herself in the tower. She was used to her towers rotary telephone and notes written by hand. When she encountered her prince and mirrored to him her finely honed set of virtues, the prince did not reflect back to her the same degree of purity. And so her finely tuned world of fantasy was put to the test; and it so happened that when the two communicated, they were in such disagreement about how each perceived the world, that the prince got angry and sent her a text message to tell her they were done and to move on.

Rapunzel was so distraught by the abruptness of his actions that she did not know what to do. She spent thousands of dollars on therapy to tell her that the prince was selfish and not worthy of her; and that next time she would value herself more. When Rapunzel texted her confusion about the situation, he deleted her from his life at the flash of a finger tip, for in his world of virtual reality that was all it took. She was no longer his Facebook friend, twitter friend and he even deleted Rapunzel from his castle cell phone. Rapunzel was reduced to a delete button and was asked to leave the castle without discussion. Poor Rapunzel cried a moats worth of tears and cut all her hair off. She felt weak and unable to function, and her world turned from a bright blue sky to a thunderstorm of gray. Her moment of happiness turned into a nightmare called modern day relationships where men are from Mars and women are from Venus.

You see her prince was used to the real world and how people can come and go in your life in an instant. Rapunzel spent eons thinking about her little world in the tower and how the world should be and simply was not ready to climb out into the world of technology and fast moving jet engine air planes. Rapunzel was not used to all the rapid fire responses in the technology world whereby everyone is on constant response mode and spends little time formulating real thoughts that require reflection and form. So she went back to her tower and her prince went back to his worldly quest of conquering damsels in distress; and never truly spending the time it takes to get to know his damsels.

The prince loved the conquest, but failed miserably at the relationship because he had an adrenaline addiction...like most techno junkies on the planet today. The prince honed his skills of perfecting the rescue and compartmentalized his ability to communicate with his damsels. He was a selfish prince and life was about his terms that stemmed from his perfectionistic nature. His obsessive compulsive thinking backed his mind into a corner and fear stepped in where love should of bloomed. And in the end, his fears won out and he lost Rapunzel to his own mind. You see the prince was also a product of his environment where quick decisions could cost him his life and he was accustomed to staying the course of chosen action just like he learned during his knighthood training. He could not love Rapunzel for who she was for that required him to step out of his safe zone and accept the truest gift of all that Rapunzel had to offer...unconditional love.

Rapunzel had no problems adjusting back to her tower for it is a safe place to exist. She can look out at her blue moon again in perfect peace knowing that her world stays the same up there...peaceful and without drama. And she can love her prince in her mind and know its safe; and yearn for him in her heart remembering his warm and tender voice when he sang to her up in her tower and loved her from afar.

Waking Vision, 90" x 44", Acrylic on Canvas

I had a dream this summer which turned into a waking vision.  The dream was so real that it stayed with me for days and now it is a constant daily passenger in my thoughts.  In the dream I was standing in front of all the souls in heaven being applauded.  As I looked out over an ocean of souls into a mist of whites , purples and pinks, I felt completely loved in this sea of spirits and completely complete.  The gift of the dream was that I was standing next to my twin soul--the one they say that is with you since the beginning of time.  The audience that stood before us was noisy and active and chirping for the two souls before them who travelled such a long and weary journey to this place.  They say that twin souls rarely come together on earth,  but when they do it is a gift that is heaven sent.  I had a dream this summer--a waking vision--and it remains a constant passenger in my thoughts.

Heavenly Spires

This is the first painting completed in over two months since I began the gallery/school/studio journey. The painting was inspired by a friends photograph of the Gorge amphitheatre in George, Washington. He calls the spot "heavens amphitheatre". The green, blue and yellow palette is reminiscent of paintings that I did when I was 16 and 17 years old. The earth object that is overlapped on the foreground is actually the same object painted in the "Dubai" painting. It is from the poplar tree and looks somewhat like a spire. I chose this object for its pointed shape and majestic look like that of a kings spire. There is also a tower metaphor going on in the imagery. The sky was inspired by Sharon Antholt's Tibetan paintings. Antholt is one of my teachers who used to show her work at Anton Gallery, in Washington D.C. The gallery closed several years ago.

Some thoughts about the spire are as follows.

A spire is in the word inspire.
Dictionary definitions:

a tall, acutely pointed pyramidal roof or roof like construction upon a tower, roof, etc.

a similar construction forming the upper part of a steeple.

a tapering, pointed part of something; a tall, sharp-pointed summit, peak, or the like: the distant spires of the mountains.

the highest point or summit of something: the spire of a hill; the spire of one's profession.

a sprout or shoot of a plant, as an acrospire of grain or a blade or spear of grass.

Vienna Connection Exhitition & School Press

Week in Vienna
The Vienna/Oakton Connection Newspaper

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Giampa Presents Retrospective, Opens New Gallery and School


Joan Marie Giampa is exhibiting her 16 year retrospective to coincide with the grand opening of her Red Caboose Gallery & Vienna Studio School on Aug. 28, 6-9 p.m. at 138 Church St., NE in Vienna. Giampa, a 16-year-veteran of the D.C. area arts scene, is known for her exhibitions such as "The Smell of Colors" and "13 Fish" at the Foundry Gallery in DuPont Circle.

She calls her studio school a "fine arts school for the new millennium." She will offer small classes and individual study in a classroom setting similar to that of the community college in painting and drawing.

Painting and Drawing Classes are forming now for September. See schedule: http://www.joanmariegiampa.com/Vienna_Studio_School/index.html

Giampa sees the Church Street as an up and coming arts scene and festival venue and feels that her Red Caboose Gallery and Vienna Studio School will be a welcome addition to the already bustling arts scene and business community on Church Street.

Giampa is a native of northern Virginia. She was born in Arlington in 1960 and has been a resident of Vienna for 37 years.

Giampa received an MFA in painting from the University of Maryland in 1998 and a BFA in graphic design from James Madison University in 1983. She teaches painting and design at Northern Virginia Community College. Giampa is advancing towards candidacy for a doctorate degree from George Mason University in the field of scholarly teaching and art.

Giampa has been exhibiting her work professionally since 1993. Her work is in private collections throughout the United States and Europe. Last year she was selected to be in Mary Washington University's annual Mid-Atlantic Painting Exhibition. The exhibition was curated by John Ravenal, curator for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Another exhibition she was invited to display her work in last year was "Virginia Painters Process Unveiled‚" Rawls Museum, Courtland, Va.

Contact: tel. 703-349-7178; email: joan@joanmariegiampa.com

Grand Opening Invitation

Vienna Studio School & Red Caboose Gallery

This Artist has been very busy lately.  I will be opening my own studio school, gallery and studio in the heart of downtown Vienna.  On July 23rd, 2009 the Vienna Studio School and the Red Caboose Gallery became official.

Looking forward to seeing you at the open!

Red Caboose Gallery

138 Church Street, NE, Vienna, VA 22182
703...

Grand Opening

August 29th 6-9 pm

Joan Marie Giampa

"A 16 Year Retrospective"

works from 1993-2009
Gallery Hours:
Monday-Friday 10-5pm
Saturdays 10-4pm

Dubai, 60" x 54", acrylic, 2009

 

Some paintings seem to flow off the brush naturally as if the image was waiting to be discovered within the canvas ground.  Dubai is one of these paintings where each stroke felt complete.  The painting is inspired by a photographer friend of mine who shoots images all over the world.  His photo, Dubai is of similar palette--a warm purple red with layers of pink overlaying.  Pink is the color of unconditional love and its a color I am embracing in my own life this summer. 

I bought a huge pink purse and some pink shoes along with pink shirts and underwear.  I can't seem to fill my life up with enough pink and it reflects the new inspiration I have found in my life and my work.

I am opening a gallery/studio in my hometown of Vienna where I will teach students and workshops on painting.  More to come on the studio and its location.  Hope you are having a wonderful summer as I am having the greatest summer and adventure of my life.  I just sold my house and am moving back into town.  Yes I am a townie--a vienna townie and proud of it.

Pinnacle Building, Tysons Corner Exhibition

... more Dubai

This painting has a slow and rhythmic unfolding. There is an exploring process that is deep and mysterious much like that of a new lover. The red purple hue denotes a passion unrestrained.

Over the next week, I am off to a workshop in Lilydale New York. The workshop is being conducted by Joseph Shiel a world renowned spirit artist. This is something that has interested me for many years and I finally have the opportunity to explore this venue of artistic expression.

More Dubai...

This morning, fathers day--Sunday, I enjoyed listening to a program on NPR about a spiritual songwriter and singer, Mr. Joe Carter. I had the privilege of listening to spiritual singers in church this past winter by a group that came to the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, in Falls Church, Virginia. That music raised my spirits and moved me in ways I have never felt before. The vocal harmonies were sung with such intensity that I felt a trembling in my soul. I know now what the term spiritual revival means. Joe Carter talks about the music being handed down to him by a woman named Jesse Anthony, who came to him one day with a briefcase full of music. I would imagine such a treasure. The greatest gifts are handed down from our elders. Artists do this by handing down their processes to younger artists. This is the way we keep our traditions alive.

I have always wanted to sing the gospel. I really don't think I would ever give it the same justice as these incredible singers did that day in church. Some day I will have my chance and blast away with a full choir-ed regalia. It may just be other worldly, but I will do it.

Dubai, 60 x 60, acrylic

Today was the first day back in the studio after many weeks off. I have been teaching a painting course at NVCC this summer as well as taking a course in my program of study. So it has been busy. I was inspired by a friends photo today of Dubai. The landscape was a reddish purple-- misty hue. It goes along nicely with the green palette of summer.

I found these pointy earth objects during one of my walks last week. They remind me of claws.

This is the earth object I found. If anyone can identify it, I can get the genus and species.

Sweet Gum, 54" x 56", acrylic

I had a conversation with a toad  yesterday. He appeared under the big tree called Robins Roost--my favorite spot in the world.  It was truly a moment of being present--spending some time with this tiny little creature.  He climbed onto my hand and sat with me for a while.  I talked and he listened and the conversation was purely one sided. It is so nice to be able to talk and have someone listen to you. The toad had a quiet gentle personality. He was unimposing and exuded virtues I most admire in others. He was beautiful, and the colors on his skin were made of beautiful stripes of black, yellow and brown--the artist pallette of raw sienna mixed with some greenish hue.  These are colors I would like spend some time working with on my next painting.

I do hope he returns the next time I am sitting under my favorite tree. It simply was a joy just to sit and do nothing but enjoy nature and its bounty and be present with a friendly toad. 

The sweet gum painting was finished today. It  is a quiet painting as well, and  am happy with the final results.

The next several weeks will be busy with teaching a summer painting class at NVCC Loudoun campus.  In the meantime, enjoy this nice weather and if you run into a toad , you may be surprised at what good company they can be.  The best things in life are free and sometimes come unexpectedly.

Yellow Flow, 54" x 80", acrylic

Yellow Flow let me finish him today. This painting is huge and a feat to try and photograph. I spent the day trying to shoot when the right light was present. I shoot my work outside. I usually have to wait for a window of opportunity to photograph without sun spots getting in the way. My neighbors must get a kick out of seeing me trip over chairs at the right moment to get the shot.

Yellow Flow is a vortex of energy that swims in a spiraling motion out from the walnut object in the middle of the painting. The walnut appealed to me because of the heart shape in the middle. My palette is strangely unfamiliar to me in this work of deep reds and yellows. . This is another one of those paintings that feels incomplete and yet I had to stop myself from over painting it. It has been through many iterations over the past several weeks. There was a point today during my painting session where I heard a loud voice say "stop" and I knew I had to surrender another work. Surrender is a good word to end a painting with. Sometimes the battle with the canvas is not won, but "surrendered". Conflict with the canvas, as with life, is avoided by complete surrennder.

Pink Star. 36.5 x 36.5, Acrylic

Pink Star is an image started several months ago. She is definitely a female painting that was begging me to dress her up with some pink for spring time. Pink is a strange color to work with. I was one told that is too sweet by one of my fondest instructors, but when the sweet fits, you must splurge a little. I definitely splurged on her outfit. She is placed on top of an older work that was unsuccessful. If you look closely there are some words underlying her dress. She whispers things from the past and brings them present. She likes to be present because in the present she finds her "true gifts"!

Star Anise

This spice is one I was introduced to by my dear Vietnamese friend Rosie. Rosie taught me how to cook Vietnamese food during the three years she was my childrens babysitter in my home.

Star anise, star aniseed, badiane or Chinese star anise, (Chinese: 八角, pinyin: bājiǎo, lit. "eight-horn"; Malayalam: തക്കോലം) is a spice that closely resembles anise in flavor, obtained from the star-shaped pericarp of Illicium verum, a small native evergreen tree of southwest China. The star shaped fruits are harvested just before ripening. It is widely used in Chinese cuisine, in Indian cuisine where it is a major component of garam masala, and in Malay–Indonesian cuisine. It is widely grown for commercial use in China, India, and most other countries in Asia. Star anise is an ingredient of the traditional five-spice powder of Chinese cooking. It is also a major ingredient in the making of phở, a Vietnamese noodle soup. It is used as a spice in preparation of Biryani in Andhra Pradesh, a state of southern India.

Pinergy, 50" x 70", Acrylic

I have finally finished this painting that I started last month. It has gone through many generations of color and layering and it seems to be "needy". I decided not to give her any more energy due to the lack of energy in my field lately. There are so many layers to paintings just like in relationships. Paintings are complex and never solved. They seem to be organic in nature and like relationships they unfold and sometimes get smothered in too much paint.

I

Studio Antics

Today I further pushed the Sweet Gum image.  I worked into the details more and then did some background integration.  The colors I am using for this painting are in the purple and orange palette.  Purple and orange when mixed make a nice burnt sienna.  If you add white to it you can generally come up with most of the brown shades needed in nature.

Sweet Gum Tree Pod

Taxonomy of American Sweetgum Trees:

Plant taxonomy classifies American sweetgum trees (also spelled "sweet gum") as Liquidambar styraciflua. The sweetgum tree I recommend is Liquidambar styraciflua 'Rotundiloba,' a sterile, non-fruiting culitivar.

Plant Type: Sweet Gum Tree

American sweetgum trees are deciduous trees, indigenous to the southeastern U.S.

Characteristics of American Sweetgum Trees:

American sweetgum trees bear leaves shaped like stars. The leaves provide excellent fall foliage color: in some cases, at the peak of the fall foliage season, some leaves may be red, others purple, others yellow, others orange -- all on the same sweetgum tree! On some trees, the branches are "winged," as on winged euonymus (burning bush), displaying corky flanges. Most people consider their seed pods (or "fruits," "balls," "gumballs," "capsules") to be messy, so I recommend the fruitless 'Rotundiloba.' Rotundiloba grows 60'-70' tall with a spread not even half that, which helps give it a narrowly pyramidal form.

Plant Taxonomy

Where has this artist been?  Such a beautiful rainy day and I ponder ponder ponder about:

Definition: Plant taxonomy is a system of classification for plants. We use the plant taxonomy developed by Linnaeus (1707-1778).

My research has taken me from the studio of late.  However,  I found myself right back where I started today...the STUDIO...and the painting is fine.

I have been working on a Sweet Gum tree pod painting and am in the middle stages of the painting.  I found my object walking my son home from the bus stop.  I then photographed it and made it studio ready.

Studio ready is another term for lets get to the essence of this thing I am painting.  This requires blowing it up and them making it small. Painting it and smearing it away.  Carving it out and rubbing it back into the ground and then revealing its nature again and again until the figure becomes the ground and the ground becomes the figure. 

Ambiguity

So what about structural ambiguity.  Should not there be a spatial differentiation between the figure and the ground.  I say there should be a questioning process in which both are equally important and both exist at the same time without discretion of the two.  The figure and the ground becomes one.  Is this possible?  I ponder these thoughts as I paint---always.

 

There truly is simplicity amongst the chaos.  Without the opposite in each situation the other would not exist.  I guess the law of the universe require this.  Opposites in nature attract and then repel.  How does one combine such opposites?