Giovane Cedar Art
  • Home
    • River Gallery Spring Show
    • Cattails & Dragonflies Gallery
    • Jansen Art Center Winter Show 2023
    • Artwood Gallery
    • Matzke Gallery
    • Background Info
    • Purchasing and Shipping Info
    • Commissions
  • PAINTINGS 1
    • Waterfall
    • The Frog Poet
    • Ginkgos & Waxwings
    • 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
    • Bats' Lunar Playground
    • Foxgloves Reaching for the Sky
    • Plum Tree on a Snowy Night
    • Autumn Moon by the Sea
    • 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
    • The Guardian
    • Crows at Sunset
    • Cormorants
    • 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
    • Dance to the Moon
    • 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 >
      • Cedar Waxwing
      • Spotted Towhee
      • Stellar's Jay
      • Evening Grossbeak
      • Red Breasted Nuthatch
      • Black-Capped Chickadee
      • Cardinal
      • 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
  • Night at Marymere Falls
  • Eagle on a Pine
  • Skagit Landscape of the Mind: Full Moon at Midnight
  • Eggplant Harvest
  • Tomatoes & Wisteria Entwined
  • Running the Waves
  • When the Salmon Run
  • Autumn Deer
  • Dunlin Flight
  • The Fox Spirit (kitsune)
  • Crow on a Snowy Branch
  • Skagit Landscape of the Mind V: Winter's Cool
  • Trees IV

13.0 A Love of Nature

12/9/2015

0 Comments

 
     Some of my fondest memories of playing outside as a kid were the times we went into the woods.  The coolness under the trees on a hot summer’s day, the play of light and shadow as sunshine was filtered by the leaves, and the subtle shades of green, brown, and gray against the blue background of the sky all became deeply entrenched in my subconscious.  Consequently, when I first came to do archeology at Fishtown in 1974, I immediately felt “at home” while staying in a tent at the Lee farm above the North Fork of the Skagit River.  The next year, when I went to Ozette, this feeling of being in my element really took hold.  Eighteen months of living out on the wilds of Washington’s Pacific coast was a truly life changing experience.  That time forever fixed my love for the natural world around me.  It is only fitting that I turn to nature as the subject and inspiration for my painting.
     
Leigh and I have been so lucky to have been able to live in rural Washington State for the past 35 years—first out at Neah Bay on the coast, and now in La Conner and in the Skagit Valley.  We have been able to enjoy the beauty and serenity of nature on a daily basis and to adjust to the rhythms of the seasons and the tides.  And in response, I have felt the need to communicate this spiritual affinity for our natural surroundings through the medium of painting on cedar.  Painting on cedar, feeling the grain as it interacts with my pencil or brush, and smelling the wonderful and distinct aroma that cedar can emit acts to connect me to the once monumental tree from which the wood originated.  This awareness requires that I “do justice” to the wood by trying to design and paint its surface to the best of my abilities.  This love of and affinity for nature is the reason why I am so influenced (and indebted) to Northwest Coast Native, Celtic, and Japanese art in all that I attempt to do.

     
Nature was the primary focus of Northwest Coast Native art and it acted as a way to connect the world in which people lived with the supernatural realm.  Artistic motifs of specific animals were associated with individual families and as such were owned by them.  Only those families had the right to display those motifs, and they were interwoven with the family’s names, songs, and dances.  Thus, a strong spiritual connection exists between Northwest Coast Native art and the natural world.  Similarly, natural motifs in Celtic art corresponded to early pagan and later Christian spirituality.  Celtic entrelac, knot-work and spirals symbolized the interconnectedness of both the natural and the spiritual worlds.

Picture
KINGFISHER’S PRIZE 2014--detail
     The Japanese have also had a long established connection to the natural world, going back to their animistic beliefs which were later incorporated into Shintoism.  Mountains, streams, waterfalls, and even rocks are the embodiment of spirits and are revered as objects of prayer.  In particular, the Japanese enjoy and celebrate the changing of the seasons and have learned to embrace this natural cycle.  From viewing the cherry blossoms in the spring to seeing the brilliant colors of maple leaves as they change in the autumn, the seasons of Japan are enjoyed by all.
Picture
CHERRY BLOSSOM SPRING 2012--detail
     Today, nature is under attack from all aspects of modern society.  As most people live in ever-growing urban areas, we are quickly losing our connections to the natural world.  One of the greatest dangers to nature is the loss of a sense of spirituality in many people.  If we don’t have a deeply rooted spiritual connection to nature, then we will not have the will to make the hard choices needed to protect her.
     Through the power of DNA, life itself is very plastic and has the built-in ability to quickly change to meet changing physical conditions.  The earth’s first great environmental catastrophe occurred billions of years ago brought on by the creation of an oxygen-rich atmosphere.  However this catastrophe eventually paved the way for most of the complex life forms we cherish today.  In the future life will continue to thrive on Earth regardless of what we humans do.  However, if we don’t act, we just might not be there to witness and glory in it.  All we can do, as a society and as individuals, is to make the effort to correct this imbalance.  Thus, in my own way and through my paintings, I want to show a symbolic representation of the beauty that exists in nature.  As a painter, I will continue to celebrate the beauty and diversity of nature and to celebrate those cultures and artists whose reverence for nature continues to inspire.
Picture
SWALLOWS DANCE 2015
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Gary Giovane

    Gary Giovane has been studying art since the ‘70s. A graduate of Penn State University (B.S.) & Memphis State (M.A.T.), Gary has been an archeologist, a cook, and a high school science & math teacher.  Gary worked on the Fishtown, Ozette, & Indian Island archeological projects before teaching for 23 years in Neah Bay and for 7 years in La Conner.  He currently lives and works in La Conner, along with his wife, Leigh.

    Archives

    February 2018
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly