Joan K. Shaver: NEW!! from the studio

Sunday, May 19, 2013

NEW!! from the studio

Jacob Strickler inspired Fraktur

The original painting was inspired by an 18th century fraktur by Jacob Strickler -A Shenandoah County, Virginia Fraktur Artist .Jacob was a Mennonite minister living in the region of Massanutten. He created his first fraktur at age 16.He is known for flowers springing from an inverted heart and the colorful zig- zag borders-called "sawtooth".

The Coffee Drinkers-high resolution download available at ETSY

www.etsy.com/shop/valleydeutsch

From my original water color painting on distressed paper.The whimsical "Coffee Drinkers" for those of us that LOVE coffee! Available here for "download".The file is high resolution-can be printed up to a 11" by 14" print that will fit in standard size frames.Visit me on Facebook /www.facebook.com/pages/Valley-Deutsch-Folk-Art/

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.