BIO

JoAnne Backman is a painter who happily stepped away from a 30-year career in banking. She lives with her husband and their very active four-legged fur "son" in Sonoma County, where JoAnne has lived most of her life. Born in San Francisco she moved to Sonoma County in her early teens. After retiring from banking, she journeyed with her husband to Hawaii, the Big Island, and enjoyed 10 years of island life. There, JoAnne found an inspiring artist mentor and welcoming art community encouraging and supporting her long-awaited desire to paint. In JoAnne's earliest work she put into play much of what she learned in art workshops and classes taken mostly for fun to balance her long days at the bank. Her artwork has grown from representational to abstract inspired by additional classes, further practice, commitment, and continued support. JoAnne's paintings have been exhibited in juried shows at the East Hawaii Cultural Center and the Wailoa Arts and Cultural Center. JoAnne also took part in the annual Paradise Studios Tour.

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JoAnne thoroughly enjoys her happy Sonoma County life, but she also loves traveling the country in the family camper van, seeing new sites, meeting new people, finding new inspiration for her paintings.

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Artist's Statement

I paint because I enjoy it. I love the feeling of creating something from essentially nothing. It's intriguing for me to see what the materials and techniques reveal. When I began painting in Hawaii, I painted representationally from photos and still life using oils, then I transitioned to abstracts with acrylic and mixed media. Now, my paintings evolve slowly through many layers of paint and other materials, the result often surprises me. My best work, in my way of thinking, evokes feelings of joy, delight, mystery, or perhaps curiosity in folks like you.

- JoAnne

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