Jo Edwards Art

Aurora Painting this beautiful peony was a three week process.  It was long but so worth the effort.  There is an almost musical movement to the petals and the colors reflect the early morning hues of the mythological goddess it was named after.  It is a 24' x 24" oil painting on a deep gallery wrapped canvas. It all started with a drawing. Many artists draw directly on their canvas but I erase and change so many features that I just can't.  Once I have it down to what I think is the final drawing, I establish a tight grid to then draw onto the canvas.  I said "think" because once I start painting I often make changes again to the composition, changing directions of the petals, adding some and deleting others. Next is the first pass to sort of establish the darks. At this point, I'm probably questioning all of my decisions.  Composition, color, where exactly am I going with this?  I guess I'll soon find out. Because I am going to be carrying the painti...

La Vie en Rose La Vie en Rose is an old French song that speaks to seeing the world through rose colored glasses.  In this strange year of 2020, I hope that the beauty of these glorious blossoms brings a softer, happier and rosier feeling to your day. This piece is painted in oil on an oil primed linen canvas.  After 20 plus years working in oils, this was my first time to paint on linen and there was definitely a learning curve.  I typically paint my tree series in an impasto manner on cotton duck canvas.  The rough tooth lends itself to the texture I love in those pieces.  But with the floral paintings, I wanted a finer detail so therefore the linen.  What I found was that the brush moves differently on the linen and the tints of the oils are much more intense.  It meant adjusting the mixes that I used. I first composed the painting on paper instead of the canvas since my drawing requires lots of restructuring, erasing, and moving of elements.  ...

Melody in Purples     2020 My Year as an Artist in Residence We have officially passed the halfway mark of the strangest year of my art career. I finished 2019 with a hugely successful fall show tour and with great plans for the 2020 spring season.  But...not to be. January and February were spent painting inventory for the planned spring shows.  The paintings      were catalogued, packed and ready for travel and then...  Well, I don't need to tell you what happened. Fortunately my studio is in my home so there was no interruption in creating but I began to notice an inner urging to branch out into something new.  If you are familiar with my work, you know that I primarily use trees as my subject in order to convey a feeling of order and harmony.  I paint them in many colors but primarily with a minimalist composition, impasto brushwork and a limited palette. To see examples, you can visit my online gallery at   Texas Gal Gallery ...