Joan Elan Davis | In the Spotlight

January 2008

An interview with Joan Elan Davis: mixed media painter
www.joandavisart.com

View Davis' portrait with her family standing in front of the heart she painted for San Francisco General Hospital.

AOD:
Tell us a little bit about your background? Where are you from originally?

JOAN ELAN DAVIS:
I was born and raised in Long Island New York, in Huntington just outside of New York city. My father is a professional artist and writer and because of this I was exposed to museum quality art at an early age. There was a profound interest in painting and drawing in my immediate family.

Anderson Ranch IV
Mixed media on paper.
30" x 22"
2006

AOD:
You have been painting and studying nature for over ten years.
What is it about nature that has influenced your work?

JOAN ELAN DAVIS:
I am particularly interested in how nature rests within itself. I study small objects that I find or research and I draw the cylindrical parts, the curves, the veins and the tendrils – all the small details. I try not to look at my drawings but ingest the rhythm of the lines created by the study of leaves, flora and foliage as well as the negative space between object. I love an organic line and the emotion behind it.

Autumn Afternoon
Mixed media on canvas.
32" x 32"
2007

AOD:
Are their any artists in particular that you admire?

JOAN ELAN DAVIS:
I admire my mentor Stan Brodsky in New York City, Robert Natkin who after one meeting pushed me into the abstract without looking back as well as Fiona Rae, Rex Ray, Gerhard Richter's abstracts and incredible realistic works, Jane Peyton and so many more!

Autumn Jewels
Mixed media on canvas.
9" x 9"
2007

AOD:
Your paintings have so much impact – the colors collide with one another with various strokes of the brush. How do you think your painting style developed?

JOAN ELAN DAVIS:
I think my current style developed when I let the whole canvas be taken over by one idea. As far as creating art, the importance of line and color in my work is clearly stronger than solid forms or three dimensional images. My palette sets the emotion and the gestures set it more frankly for the viewer. All my work is based on personal experience.

Autumn Sketch No. 6
Mixed media on canvas.
32" x 32"
2007

AOD:
What materials do you use to produce your work?

JOAN ELAN DAVIS:
I love water-based paints. I don't use water with them. I use special mediums to get the paint to do what I want. I love to mix water-based materials like inks, iridescent materials with collage. I often use stencils I create myself or find in various places including toys, game pieces and anything that's around the studio to create a mark. The process is endless.

Natural Divisions
Mixed media on canvas.
32" x 32"
2007

AOD:
Take us through the process of one of your favorite paintings.
(From idea, sketches, etc.)

JOAN ELAN DAVIS:
One of my favorite pieces is "Just Shutup and Have Fun"...

I had played a puzzle game with a very little girl (a friends daughter) on the gym floor during one of my sons basketball games. It had all these amazing colorful pieces that looked abstract to me but were clothing, clouds, purses and other things. We joked around and made some silly "scenes". The next day or so I began to draw some of the shapes of these pieces directly onto my canvas. I then began painting some of the more abstract shapes on top. The colors I used were some of the brightest I had ever chosen and more feminine than usual...hot pinks, neon greens and creams. I took my time with the piece and decided not to work it too hard. I left a lot of white space and continued to work it on the floor making some daring pours and hard marks a bit each day. The title came afterward and just summarized the experience of 'play' – play with a child and that adults just don't play enough – therefore the title naturally fits.

Falling Daisies
Mixed media on canvas.
66" x 66" x 2.5"
2007

AOD:
How do you keep yourself motivated and interested in painting?

JOAN ELAN DAVIS:
I do not seem to have to try very hard to keep motivated. Its almost a challenge to stop thinking about it and doing it. I will see the smallest thing and get inspired. For instance, there was a black shadow across my brown garage door and this inspired six Autumn sketch pieces that are now being published and will be available in poster and Giclée format next fall.

I am constantly looking at artists that are better than me to push my technique and my quality. I study the past present and future trends and go to museums whenever possible. I worked as a docent at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for six years until finally I had to stop to give myself more time to paint. SFMOMA is still my favorite museum on the west coast. I love the Whitney in New York most of all.

Garden of Satisfaction
Mixed media on canvas.
32" x 32"
2007-2008

AOD:
Do most, if not all, of your artworks express your mood at the time of creation?

JOAN ELAN DAVIS:
I think most of my art reflects the mood of whatever is going on in my life as related to the big picture not just that day or moment. I really spend a lot of time thinking about the blank canvas (each one speaks its own life) before I begin.

Good Morning Garden
Mixed media on canvas.
32" x 32"
2007

AOD:
Is there any advice you'd give to those who are aspiring artists?

JOAN ELAN DAVIS:
The best advice I have for aspiring artists is to make the time to work. Schedule it as if it really is your full-time job and career rather than a hobby. Schedule time to paint, to draw and to study, as well as, to market yourself. Don't give up and take full advantage of opportunities to exhibit your work. Once you get to and a achieve a certain show or gallery never go back to a lesser level. Believe in the value of your work and don't paint for what you think a gallery wants to show. If you have a talent for realism take it a step farther and make it different. If you paint loosely do it well!

Crystal Yes
Mixed media on canvas.
54" x 54"
2007

AOD:
Any art showings you would like to share with us?

JOAN ELAN DAVIS:
I have most of my shows at the San Francisco Design Center at 3 Henry Adams Street, San Francisco CA. I will be showing my largest pieces at The Axis Cafe next to CCAC in January and February and doing a lecture there in February. My work will also be shown downtown at various corporate buildings this March.

My galleries include Joan Davis Art Studios, National Association of Women Artists Gallery on 80th and 5th in NYC, The Palm Desert Collection Gallery in Palm Desert, Studio Chameleon in Newport Beach as well as the A. Rudin Showroom in LA.

My works were also recently showcased at the Marin Showcase Home, Dickens House and the Western Interiors Show. I am working on a new body of work at the moment called Crystal Conversations that will be ready for viewing in late March 2008.