Background:
JoanTarbell-Plato began her love of art in childhood on the shores of Lake Ontario. After a successful Computer Science career, she dove into the art world studying painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), with several internationally known artists and studied printmaking at the University of Maryland at College Park. She is a juried member of the International Society of Experimental Artists (ISEA), the Baltimore Watercolor Society (BWS) and the National League of American Pen Women (NLAPW) and has won numerous first place awards for her paintings. For more than 20 years her works have been shown in solo and group exhibits in Baltimore, Frederick, Columbia, Ellicott City, Frostburg and in Washington D.C., Virginia and Florida. She is presently a member of the Artists Gallery of Ellicott City. Her art is held in both private and corporate collections.
Thoughts on my art including process:
“ Artists must break a hole in the subconscious and enter!” JTPlato
Many parts of my life that I love, intuitively appear in my art such as living creatures to include humans! Birds, rocks, flowers and shells have always fascinated me, and often arise as symbols for life, flight, warnings, inspiration or death. Art for me is an expressive means to discover the essence of living. To be alive is to move and my chosen medium is watermedia, mainly using acrylics. I begin with loose washes sometimes combined with layered mixed media and the artwork evolves through a stimulating two-way conversation. I move with the decisions to incorporate color, texture, line, shape or leave an element out. It is amazing to discover how advanced our brains are in making hundreds of decisions in a brief period of time and to visualize the results of these decisions in one painting. We are all creators! I have chosen to do it through art.
Recent Juried Show Art/Awards:
Plato has been juried into many prestigous shows and has received numerous awards in the past twenty years for her paintings.
Nov.2024: International Society of Experimental Artists (ISEA) Online Juried Show: “Jaden Creating”
Oct.2024-Jan.2025 BWS MidAtlantic Show 2024 at Kentlands Mansion Gaithersburg, MD: “It’s Raining…”
Art Howard County 2023 October 13-November 18 2023: “Attentive Nature”
Oct.2023-Jan.2024 BWS MidAtlantic Show 2023 at Kentlands Mansion Gaithersburg, MD: “A World of Tulips”
September 2023: ISEA Show Merit Award for “Imagined Creations” in Annual Juried Show Cape Cod, Mass.
March 2023: Third place award for “The Journey During COVID” at the Juried Columbia Art Center Show.
June 2022: Honorable Mention for “Pear Journey” in the Baltimore Watercolor Society MidAtlantic Show.
International Society of Experimental Artists (ISEA) 2022 Juried Online Show
International Society of Experimental Artists (ISEA) 2021 Annual Juried Show Mackinac Island, Michigan