A chat with Artist Joan Blond

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I've taken a little time to chat with one of our artists, Joan Blond.

She lives in the beautiful Yarra Valley, Victoria.  A large amount of her inspiration for her artworks comes from the immediate surroundings around her home, it's a stunning part of the world! She is honestly one of the loveliest people you will ever meet and we are so happy that her beautiful artworks are going from strength to strength both here in Australia and internationally, being snapped up by savvy collectors. 

Joan Blond 'Summer Series'

I asked Joan to share with us her background as an artist …" I have always loved art and have pursued many creative hobbies.  When my children were older and off with their friends, I found I was at home on weekends wondering what I was going to do with myself ! .. It all began from there when I decided to dabble with my paints.  I started by painting horses for my friends and then moved onto abstracts. I would share my artwork first with family and friends and also more recently on Instagram. This has been a fantastic platform for sharing what I create and love along with increasing my exposure as an artist, connecting me with stockists, galleries and other amazing artists whom I now call friends! I am constantly up skilling and experimenting with my art to push me creatively."

 

 Joan's large-scale botanical works and layered abstract are my favourite styles and I asked more about her creative process ..."I usually start my layered botanical abstracts with acrylic paint.  I apply sections of colour on the canvass or linen, trying to put a cool colour next to a warm colour or having complementary colours next to each other. I also vary the size and shapes of my coloured sections to add interest. As areas dry I add overlapping shapes to create some depth and more interest in the painting. Once the background is dry I then 'decorate' with different leaves, trees, shapes and marks." 

Joan Blond ' Heaven on Earth' 1.23 x 1.53 mt Framed in Black Oak

The one thing that I love about Joan's works as I can always see it 'developing' as new artistic elements move into her artworks. New artworks emerging from the studio have 'mixed media' applied; she is now using oil paint, acrylics and gold leaf in her works. " I love the way the gold leaf adds a bit of shimmer & light in a painting.  I’m also using metallic paints, inks and posca pens for fine detailed work.  I still create my artworks in the same way and these mentioned 'mixed media details are added as I’m decorating & detailing the work," Joan tells me.  

'Patchwork Landscape' by Joan Blond 123 x 210 (overall - Diptych )

Joan loves to create her artworks in a number of large scale sizes, however her favourite size to paint with is the 1.2 x 1.5 mt size.  " It's not too large, unlike the  2 mt + works I also paint and are in high demand! The 1.2 x 1.5 mt I find is large & versatile enough so I can 'create a story' on the canvass. A scene, landscape or  memory are easy for me to  translate onto a canvas of this size. It’s also a perfect size for a dining room wall, over a sideboard, large sofa, in a hallway or over a bed in a bedroom." 

 'Was Summer just a dream?' By Joan Blond

I asked Joan if she has a career highlight, she said that her solo exhibitions have been an amazing experience ... "it's been surreal creating a specific body of work for my 'own' exhibition. Being a feature artist on 'The Block' last year in 2018 was also amazing, and to have two works featured ... I was thrilled." 

Joan Blond

When asked is there anything exciting happening in the pipeline, Joan shares "
I’m working on a new exciting series which I’m calling 'My Garden of Eden' series which is featuring a bit of figurative work.  I’m also experimenting to create more with oil paint. I’ve painted a few with my Langridge oils & the colours and texture are spectacular so I’ll be embarking on more oil paintings when I can."

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Joan ... now off I go to measure up a wall in my home for one of your Summer Series artworks! xx

Shop Joan Blond's artworks here!

See something you like and want something similar ? YES ... we arrange commissions of Joan's stunning works. Contact us here for more info.  

We also offer Lay-by and 'YES' ... we can ship worldwide! 

 

 

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