JoAnne Horsfall Beasley
Chronology
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In the mid to late 1970's I was very taken with the writings of Italo Calvino and shortly after reading his "The Castle of Crossed Destinies" decided to see whether I could also create a Tarot set using my own images recently completed of what for lack of a better word I called ' Grid Landscapes'. I have included a few of the face cards to give viewers an idea of the kind of work I was doing as we made our move from Boston to California.

The Devil
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One of 22 Major Arcana Images

The Major Arcana consists of 22 face cards that represent arenas in life such as powerful figures; The Emperor and Empress,other more hapless figures such as The Fool, ideas about Death, the meaning and influence of such planets as The Sun and The Moon, the complexity of The World and The Lovers, reversals of fortune such as The Tower. The philosophical and psychological ideas that often influence the choices we make in our lives can be found in the Tarot cards and like many of the more ancient forms of personality explanation were popular for many centuries.

The Fool
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One of 22 Major Arcana Cards from my Tarot Deck

I continued to explore the possibilities of a grid-like structure in large acryllic on canvas pieces during the late 70's and early 80's . My love of organic objects  collected here and there began to play a large part in my visual vocabulary as did an interest in dyptychs and triptychs during this time period. I also began to paint large scale abstract/realistic  watercolors of flowers followed shortly by a series of very large scale black mural paper pastels mounted on masonite of fanciful gardens and wildflowers. 

Landscape Grid from the 1970's
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Archival Print Oly

Flower Grid from the 1970's
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Archival Print Only

Moth Pattern 1
mothpattern1.jpg
Available in Archival Print Only

Moth Pattern 2
mothpattern2.jpg
Archival Print Only

During this period and throughout my artistic life I have played around with patterns and patterns within patterns, etc.  The Moth Patterns are examples.

Snow Pine watercolor 1980's
snowpine.jpg
available in Archival Print Only

I have been using multiple sheets of paper to create larger and more complex configurations.These two watercolors were painted during the 1980's and are favorites of mine.



Rain Iris Watercolor 1980's
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available in Archival Print Only

Flower Drawing, Paris 1981
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available in Archival Print Only


I have always drawn and the love of drawing came back srongly when we were in Paris in 1981. Here are two drawings done in our apartment during the Spring. Later on, years later, the drawing of babies and children resurfaced as an interest.I also began to draw and paint animals again.

Iris Drawing, Paris, 1981
irisparispencil.jpg
available in Archival Print Only

Alexander
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Green Moth in camoflage
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available in Archival Print Only


I began a series of very dense abstracted insects, flora,and fauna pieces in the early 2000's. These are primarily moth and butterfly paintings and soon I was using photos as montage combined with the drawings or paintings to create a multi-media piece. I also experimented with colored pencils and did several pieces like the one to the right.

Moth Drawing and Photos 2
 
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" x " $1200
Moth Drawing and Photos 1
 
mothphotos1.jpg
" x " $1500

Watercolor Objects from the late 1970's
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Available in Archival Print Only

Objects Watercolor 2
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Available in Archival Print Only

Iris Watercolor Abstract 1980's
iriswatercolorabstract..jpg
Available archival print only

Jack in the Pulpit Pastel 1980's
jackinthepulpitpastel.jpg
Available in Archival Print Only

Above Trinity Alps Resort circa 2000
 
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available in Archival Print Only

I began to paint the Trinity Alps in the early 1980's after visiting Trinity Alps Resort as a guest. I was so taken with this landscape that I have continued to chronicle this part of California since that time. The three paintings are fairly recent and some of my best pieces, in my opinion. I continue to find The Alps, or The Trinities, a fascinating landscape and hope to spent many more year creating new pieces. Most of the 1990's were spent painting the Trinity Alps.

Late Afternoon on The Trinity
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Available in Archival Print Only

The Garden of Earthly Delight Triptych
trinitytriptych.jpg
Available in Archival Print Only

Cam Remembered 1990
camremembered.jpg

Favorite Blue Iris 1990's
favoriteblueiris.jpg
available in Archival Print Only

Two Travelling Flowers 2004
twotravelingflowers.jpg
" x " $850


The final painting on my chronology page was created in 2005 and was the centerpiece of my show at The Main Gallery in Redwood City. I like the cross shape (as was apparent in earlier pieces) and the glimpses of the river's edge and the wide variety of shapes, color and textures in the subject matter of painting. The river's edge is indeed 'holy water'.

River's Edge: Holy Water
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Archival Print Only