Gallery 2

Creation Myth Series: Paintings by JoAnn Chartier

Reflections on the Night  45x55

Shaman's Dream 51x65      sold

Night Life  40x46             sold

Since ancient times, before the written word, perhaps even before the spoken word, the creative energy of consciousness flowered in dreams that became myths that are the foundations of a universe of immense diversity. Put yourself in a densely black cave in Lascaux, France, and imagine the need you had to paint on the rock walls images of the creatures you lived with. Those cave paintings done 25,000 years ago still are powerful and sophisticated, and bely the "primitive man" (why not woman?) label.

I am amazed to read about cellular memory, and delighted with the idea that particles of energy jump around like fleas, and intrigued by string theory as it is interpreted for the mathematically impaired like me. Only a very few people of the billions that live on this planet can crunch the numbers to bolster an idea that became a scientific theory that hints at alternate realities. Is that not a phenomenon to engage an inquiring mind?

These paintings are meditations on time and creativity and the beliefs that define us. They are, for me, celebrations of the wonderful complexity of life.

Journey Series: mixed media on paper

Taurus Rising 22x30

Big Woman 22x30

La Vida  Loca 22x30

Learn to Swim or Sink  54x 68               sold

True Dreams  47 x 54

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Paintings by JoAnn Chartier:  Water Series

New Work at DragonFire Studio Gallery

Surge   24x24

Freshet  24x24

Current  24x24

Drench  24x24.sold

Rush  24x24

Woods 24x24

Pond Tryptich  24x24   18x24   24x24: Total 24 H x 66 W

"JoAnn Chartier works abstract magic with arylic on canvas. In her own words: "Nature is more than a scenic landscape for me. In this new series I have concentrated on water. It is an extremely undisciplined substance. Unlike earth, which tends to stay put, water is an escape artist, a mirror, a mask, a force, a wave, a shiver on a surface, a downpour, a creeping tide. I confined the paintings to a square format, which is not water's natural habitat. Some of the water series happens in deep woods, some beside a still pond, some at the intersection of sea and shore."  Cannon Beach Gazette.

Breathing Lessons

A Journal in Paint

The Journey series began somwhere in the 1990s with a beautiful piece of d'Arches printmaking paper.  After priming one side with a coat of gesso, I mixed up transparent black paint, thinned it way down, and using a horribly tangled and partly stiff nylon trim brush, I scrubbed black all over the paper, which was stapled to a board.  I was careful to cover the fragile deckle edges of the paper in order to paint right off the edge. I wiped and scrubbed quickly, maybe spraying or flicking water across the surface, then I let it dry and stared at the random brushstrokes for a time -- an hour or a day or a week -- until a shape, a shadow, or an edge caught my attention. With a dive into the unknown, I let my subconscious guide me through thoughts and feelings evoked by the meditative process. It's like interpreting a dream -- sometimes you recognize the symbols and can instantly see the connection to your life, other times it is a haunting mystery. All painting is personal, but the Journey series is my diary.