Visit Joanne’s Studio

Q&A with Joanne

1. What is your chosen medium?

Metalsmithing, jewelry mostly.

2. How did you start your career in art?

A friend convinced me to collaborate on an installation in conjunction with theatre event in Milwaukee, WI., she shortly decided to move to New Orleans but I decided to go ahead to do the project basing it on a thesis I had written on the relationship between literature and post relativistic physics.

3. What informs your art?

Historic technology and aesthetics

4. What jobs you have worked other than as a professional artist?

Back for the Bicentennial, I worked for a small company sewing reproductions of antique military uniforms, we also hand sewed a new altar cloth for a newly built Catholic Church in Lansing Michigan. Later I, taught myself to do faux finishing and worked on the restoration of 3 historic movie theatres. That led to my career as a scenic artist for film and television.

5. What questions do you ask yourself when starting to work?

Since I began my study of metalsmithing relatively late, I feel I have no time to lose. I want to see that each step leads me on my path to realize my aesthetic.

6. Do you have a quote that’s important to you displayed in your studio?  If so, what is it? 

“Nature as Metaphor”

7. Which artist (living or not) would you most like to invite for dinner? What would you serve?

Joseph Beuyss 1921-1986. In dealing with the aftermath of his participation in WWII he devoted himself to a vision of an art that transforms the world with the participation of everyone’s creativity. Specifically I am entranced with his relationship with the role of material in life and survival.

The perfect roast chicken with the crispiest skin, served with Armenian garlic sauce, eaten with our fingers. Perhaps some haricots vert in a tarragon vinaigrette. Sweet cherries for dessert.

8.  What has been your most unusual request for your art?

I was asked to paint a new sculpture of the Madonna for a Catholic church in downtown Los Angeles.

9. What music are you listening to these days?

Ralph Vaugh Williams and Moby play in the studio.

10. What is on your nightstand?

The latest copy of Vanity Fair, The American Woodland Garden by Ricke Darke, Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith, and Russian Jewellery Mid 19th Century thru 20th Century.

About Joanne

Curiosity has been the guiding focus in Joanne’s life. First schooled in physics and philosophy at Michigan State University, her curiosity led her to follow her fascination with ancient history; its geology and its ancient arts and technologies.

A study of the history of painting techniques led to Los Angeles where she spent years painting illusions for the film industry.

Finally, in Asheville NC, the fascination with geology and historic technologies came together in her study of metals and stones in the making of jewelry.