K. Joann Russell drew with pencil and pen, painted with pastels, worked in
fiber arts, and carved leather as a young girl. The artistic background of her parents acquainted her with a variety of art from architecture to fashion design. Born in California, her childhood recollection of seeing for the first time the mosaic on the front of the Stanford University
chapel, “all those pieces of color making a picture”, still influences her art.
Her adult experiences in quilting and tapestry help her focus on design elements, especially color shapes.
Her paintings speak visual words
of encouragement and joy through the beauty of God's creation around us. Because of her science background she often
chooses an “up-close” viewpoint for her paintings, seeing the incredible beauty and interrelatedness of nature everywhere and suggesting to others to take more time “to stop to smell the
flowers”.
After undergraduate and graduate study
in chemistry and work in teaching and research, Ms. Russell completed a second major in interior design and a minor in art. In addition, she studied studio art with Northwest artists Carl Hall, Nelson Sandgren, L. James Kirk, among others. Her work has been included in many juried shows
and won awards, as well as featured in newspaper and magazine articles.
Her paintings continue to be selected for numerous private and corporate collections.
She continues to work in more than one medium
for the spontaneity it gives her. Landscapes rather than flowers were her principal subject matter until an art professor suggested she paint everything in her backyard! Flowers in strong colors and design were the result. Her paintings of
horses, cattle, and rural scenes flow
from her family's ranch life experiences in California and southern Oregon. She also occasionally paints ocean and water scenes for their tranquility and constant change.
L
iving close to the waters of Puget Sound in Washington
State and visiting Oregon
beaches or southern Oregon mountain valleys provides sources for her seascapes
and rural landscape paintings.
Known for her signature image of a sunflower
she thoroughly enjoys painting them. She had never painted them nor considered painting them until one year Blue Jay birds planted the seeds in her yard. She didn't even have a bird feeder to supply the seeds, and the birds hadn't voluntarily planted
sunflowers in previous
years. Her strong sense of design and imagery as visual words attracted her to the sunflower. Sometimes she includes a reference note to a biblical quote in Mark 4:30 "...what image shall we use to describe it (the kingdom of God)?" which is the
inspiration for all of her art.
Joann appreciates the collectors of her art
and their comments about how it affects them. Using her experience in interior design, she helps people to color coordinate their decorating plans and to express their individuality with choices of unique pieces of art.
Art collectors of her work can purchase
framed prints, gallery wrap canvases and greeting cards of her original
colorful paintings.To contact her
or to share your comments, suggestions and questions, please send an
e-mail or
comment on her social networking sites. Have
you read Joann's blog
recently? Tweet
her @KJoannRussell. Join her fans on her Facebook Fan Page
"Sunflower Studio Art" for updates and shop for greeting cards
and framed or unframed prints of her original colorful paintings.
