Joanna Nobell is a realist painter who lives in the Pacific Northwest. A native of northern California, as a child she explored the American river in Coloma, CA with her little brother in tow. At an early age, she was acutely aware of the beauty and ruggedness of the land, this correlated with a crazy love for horses. Her distinguishing style captures these two passions enveloping you in a world of beauty, excitement, and joy. She expresses the vibrant spirit and atmosphere of the West, from the high country to the ocean, and eclipses it with the freedom, strength, and grandeur of the horse.
These two subjects are brought to life with contrasting and harmonious colors and bold composition. She painstakingly mixes all her paints from four colors, but not the primary colors.
“Each painting has a multitude of layers, one must slow down, linger, and breathe to create”.
Joanna Nobell
Joanna is self-taught. As a child she used the tools she had – a pencil and paper. Her world was not perfect and often her artistic ability was constrained by life’s changing journey. In her late 20s she ventured into her first gallery and was shocked when they bought all her drawings and dedicated entire walls to her work. Her simple drawings had grown into large, highly sophisticated black and white sketches launching her professional career. She then joined a group of fellow artists on the Oregon coast. She explored intaglio printing, pointillism, and paper making. Joanna was captured by the old masters to include: Michelangelo, DaVinci, Rembrandt, and Durer. However, she hadn’t picked up a paintbrush yet.
Encouraged by galleries she ventured from the security of her pencil to the realm of color and oils. She explored and created, working as the old masters, meticulously and slowly.
“A painting isn’t finished until it smiles back at her”.
Joanna Nobell
Her personally commissioned works hang in hundreds of horse enthusiasts’ homes. She has exhibited at galleries and shows in Colorado, Wyoming, and Oregon. It is displayed at the Arabian Horse Trust Museum in Westminster, CO and another has been donated to the Arabian Art Auction in Scottsdale, AZ.
Joanna is enthralled in her passion and is very much an idealistic lone wolf. She thrives in her solitude, enriched in her work and sharing it with those of like minds. Joanna invites you to join her.