Author Archives: joanngilles

From Wikipedia—“One definition of fine art is ‘a visual art considered to have been created primarily for aesthetic and intellectual purposes and judged for its beauty and meaningfulness—specifically in, painting, sculpture, drawing, watercolor, graphics, and architecture.’” (In that sense, there … Continue reading →

There is a T.V. special coming up on OPB (Mon. 10/19) about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival which I (and several others of our group) was lucky enough to attend recently. How incredible to have this resource in our own back … Continue reading →

Ta da! Back and anxious to record thoughts and ideas again. The mind is pulling at many strings that long to be connected. Like a crow that picks up shiny bits and bobs to make a roost, I will try … Continue reading →

The movie Birdman won the academy award for best cinematography. The bulk of the story is visually told as if the viewer is following the character with a Go-Pro.  Sequences of frustration, doubt, fear, desperation, backstage tantrums and on stage … Continue reading →

Hearing last week’s Radio Lab regarding the paralyzing effects of too many choices reminded me of how often unexpected success comes to people who are new to painting who have few materials and don’t know how to use them. Barry … Continue reading →

I love that the word holiday comes from “holy day”. Holy–exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness. That’s how I view time spent for the holidays. Time in itself can be holy in this … Continue reading →

This week my studio-mate Angelina and I led a painting workshop for Portland’s homeless street kids.  We didn’t know what to expect but we were aware that this at-risk young adult population has bigger things on their mind than the … Continue reading →

I know I write about the same stuff over and over again.  But I can’t help it.  It haunts me.  I’m not alone.  There are volumes written. Here’s more. There’s this paradox in art making.  The best stuff comes when … Continue reading →

Painting, painting, painting—deadlines, mind whirling– is it any good? Can I be done with this batch? This is not the way to do it– always painting for a deadline, a goal. It should be exploring, experimenting. I’ve had a rich … Continue reading →

I was going to try and write a SIMPLE paragraph about color. Can’t do it.  It is so complex.  There is Newton and cones in the eye and the length of light waves and then there’s Goethe and his color … Continue reading →