Giovane Cedar Art
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    • Jansen AC Summer 2023 Exhibit
    • Cattails & Dragonflies Gallery
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    • Matzke Gallery
    • Background Info
    • A Very Personal Style
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  • PAINTINGS 1
    • Skagit Landscape of the Mind: Full Moon at Midnight
    • Eggplant Harvest
    • Tomatoes & Wisteria Entwined
    • Waterfall
    • Night at Marymere Falls
    • The Frog Poet
    • Eagle's Pride
    • Spring in Bloom
    • Flower Moon in May
    • Northwest Rain Kosode
    • Snow on the Beach
    • It Only Takes One
    • Scattered Fans
    • White Circle of Silence
    • In the Spirit of Serizawa & Kubota
  • Paintings 2
    • Autumn Introspection
    • Foxgloves Reaching for the Sky
    • Bats' Lunar Playground
    • Plum Tree on a Snowy Night
    • Chickadee in the Snow
    • Down by the Stream on a Lazy Summer's Day
    • Towhee & Currant in Spring
    • Sparrow's Spring
    • Autumn Grasses (Oribe Tribute)
    • A Tribute to Itchiku Kubota: Ozette Sunset
    • Cathedral of the Trees
    • Baillie Scott Trinity
    • Raven's Forest
    • Eagle Embraces Her
  • Paintings 3
    • Crow on a Snowy Branch
    • Running the Waves
    • The Guardian
    • Skagit Scene
    • Dream Birds
    • Curious Crow
    • Hydrangea's Final Bloom
    • Pine Island
    • The Four Guardians
    • Circle About the Moon
    • Eelgrass Nursery Rhyme
    • Cedar Green Man
    • Serizawa's Kimono
    • Cats United
  • Paintings 4
    • Skagit Landscape of the Mind V: Winter's Cool
    • When the Salmon Run
    • Autumn Deer
    • As Autumn Approaches
    • Echizen Crows
    • The Spirit of Fallen Camellias
    • Temple Hawk
    • Goldfinch Dream
    • Autumn Carpet
    • An Eala Bahn (The White Swan)
    • Horse Ema
    • Lucia's Maple
    • Eagles Spring Dance
    • Watts Chapel Tribute Memorial
    • Voysey's tree
  • Blog Page
  • Other Work
    • Paintings 5 >
      • Camellias in Bloom Woodblock Print
      • Hot Otter Love
      • č’u•? is Seal
      • Loons & Horses
      • Hawk on a Pine 1
      • Elk Along the South Fork
      • Spirits of Ozette
      • Lingcod Guardian
      • Plum Blossoms in Spring
      • Journey Home From Ozette Island
      • Tsooes Sunset
    • Boxes >
      • Rose Tree Box
      • Celtic Bread Box
      • Creature of the Box
      • Kells Cats Chest
      • Miyamoto's Rice Box
    • Trays >
      • Dragonfly Tray
      • Kaiseki Tray
    • Karakami Square Series >
      • Karakami Square #1: Cherry Tree
    • Screens >
      • Eagles 2-Panel Folding Screen
      • The Four Seasons Screen Series >
        • Winter Screen: Eagle & Pine
        • Fall Screen: Canada Geese & Maples
        • Spring Screen: Cherry Trees & Finches
        • Summer Screen: Swallows & Willow
      • Frog's House Screen
      • Waterfall Screen
    • Peacock Sconces
  • Resources List
  • Catalog
  • Sold Paintings
  • Gifted Art & Personal Collection
  • Trees IV
  • Swimming with Sea Lions
  • Nuthatch & Wild Rose
  • Wagara Mountain
  • Heron Dream
  • Raven-White to Black
  • Anna's Home
  • Crows Know All
  • Ospreys Above the Channel
  • Solitary Seal
  • Falcon II
  • Northern Flicker II
  • Ocean People
  • Chickadees Among the Horsetails
  • Blue Heron

A Very Personal Style

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OCEAN PEOPLE Summer 2023
 

​    I believe that art should be created to reflect the beauty of the natural world and to link us to our place within it.   This has led me to the development of a very personal art style.  My painted works are almost exclusively created by using acrylics painted on western red cedar boards. My style is a fusion of three distinct cultural traditions:  Northwest Coast Native 2-dimensional art, Celtic and Celtic Revival art, and Japanese painting and woodblock prints.  I employ and blend each of these cultural art traditions in my paintings.  The final component of each painting relates to the Arts and Crafts Movement and is seen in my hand-made oak frames used to complete the art.  My 2023 painting OCEAN PEOPLE is a good example of how all of these art traditions have been fused into a single composition.
​
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OCEAN PEOPLE Phase #1 Black primary formlines painted
     The first, fundamental phase of any of my paintings involves creating a formline structure which delineates the subject of the composition.  This formline structure derives directly from Northern Northwest Coast Native art.  Often these formlines are painted in black, blue, or brown and create the outline of the main subject.  In OCEAN PEOPLE, the formlines for my orcas were inspired by the works of Master Haida artist Robert Davidson
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OCEAN PEOPLE Phase #2 Twilight blue entrelac painted
     ​The second cultural component of my fusion style incorporates design elements from the rich Celtic art tradition.  Spirals, knotwork, and other interconnected designs are often used within the regions created by the formline structure.  In OCEAN PEOPLE, this can be seen in the interior regions of the large male orca.  The Book of Kells and Celtic Revival entrelac seen in the metalwork of Manx designer Archibald Knox were the inspiration for these designs.
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OCEAN PEOPLE Phase #3 Kuniyoshi-style waves painted
     The third and final component of my cultural fusion style derives from the compositional influences and design elements of Japanese art and craft.  Japanese aesthetics seen in screen paintings, scrolls, and ukiyo-e prints emphasize such design elements as asymmetry, empty space, lack of perspective and shading, and the use of blocks of color.  In particular, the Rinpa School has had a big influence on my art.  For OCEAN PEOPLE, the design for my waves was inspired by the water design of Utamaro Kuniyoshi’s woodblock triptych “Miyamoto Musashi Subduing the Whale”.
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OCEAN PEOPLE Painting finished
     Finally, the other internal regions of the orcas were painted, the eyes were painted in, and the painting was finished.  One last step was to construct, finish, and attach the mortise-and-tenon frame.
Gary Giovane
La Conner, WA
gioart13@yahoo.com
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