Color and Texture: Sunflowers and Abstracts

Color and Texture: Sunflowers and Abstracts

Joanna Coke will debut her new artwork, sunflowers infused with vibrant color and highly-textured mixed-media, on February 6, 5-7 pm at The Women's Resource Center of Sarasota, 340 S Tuttle Ave, Sarasota. 941-366-1700. The public is invited and refreshments will be served. The show extends through March 26, 2014 and can be seen most weekdays from10:30am to 4pm.

Joanna combines brilliant color and strong textures, rendered with layers of mixed media, to create depth and intensity in her work. In  her sunflower paintings, she approaches each flower as a unique portrait. Starting with thin, watercolor washes that produce soft, transparent backgrounds, she then applies thick acrylic paints and delicate flowers in gold acrylic inks. The effect is complex, vibrant and intense.

In her abstracts, Joanna's approach is to create a feeling of deep inner space. She starts by using highly textured surfaces then adds acrylics and additives such as pumice, granular beads and crackle. The result is the creation of a dream-state atmosphere with touches of realism. 

 
Joanna received an Associate of Arts degree from Harvard University, a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art and Art Education from the University of South Florida at Tampa and a Master of Fine Arts from Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. She studied art and painting in Paris, Venice, Rome and Florence and, in 2009, was invited to participate in a joint Russian-American program that emphasized art and educational exchanges in Russia where she exhibited and taught art. In 2012, she coordinated and taught art workshops in Santa Fe, NM and St. Augustine, FL.
To view her portfolio, visit http://www.joannacoke.com/.