Joan K. Shaver: THE COOL BEFORE THE BIG HEAT

Thursday, June 28, 2012

THE COOL BEFORE THE BIG HEAT

We have been enjoying lovely weather here in the Shenandoah Valley-cool sunny days with a "sweet Virginia breeze" . I set up my painting area on the back deck-joined by Ollie and Oscar-and Heide camped out under the table.Fritz was on "buggy watch" at the front window and couldn't join us. Unfortunately the BIG Heat and Humidity is due to roll in this afternoon....but we will ENJOY

while we can!

Joan K. Shaver

Welcome to my Blog Site!
I am a Virginia artist from Dayton-specializing in the style of the Pennsylvania Germans.

My art work reflects my Shenandoah Valley heritage or as our Lancaster cousins refer to us-Valley Deutsch.

I love all the arts of the early PA Germans but my favorite are the Frakturs. Fraktur is a folk art form practiced by Pennsylvania Germans principally from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries. The name derives from that of a distinctive German script marked by "fractured" pen strokes and the form has clear roots in European folk culture. Fraktur blossomed into a uniquely rich, colorful and iconographic form of expression in the United States, tied to rites of social life.

I have a degree in Fine Arts from VCU and worked as a graphic artist and TV video editor. I use all the tools of both disciplines to create my art. No surface is out of bounds for me-from my distressed hand made paper to blanket chests--and anything in between. One of my favorite surfaces is antique coffee pots. I have done art shows throughout the state and displayed in galleries for the past 20 years.

I also paint local scenes and folks of the Valley.