im-age ar´chae-ol´o-gy™, [im-ij] [ahr-kee-ol-uh-jee], n. 1. The systematic recovery by artistic methods of imagery within the ground of a painting.2. A dig into the surface ground with the butt of a paintbrush to imprint an image.3. The space between the figure and the ground from which emerges a skeletal impression of an image.4. A constant searching for the middle ground through the application of paint and projected thought that culminated into a work of art.
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.
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.
