JoAnne Jacobs

Jo Anne Jacobs is a native West Virginian. She completed her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education at Concord College, Athens, WV in 1969.  She later completed her masters +30 degree while teaching in Kanawha County Schools. She retired in 1999, having completed 30 years of service.

After retirement , she she began feeding her interest in art by attending many classes and workshops taught by national and local instructors. She has interests in many areas including calligraphy, watercolor and rubber stamping.  She is a member of Allied Artists of WV, WV Watercolor Society, WV Art & Craft Guild, the Charleston Calligraphy Guild and a local rubberstamp club.

Her pursuits have been rewarding, resulting in participation in several juried exhibitions.  These include WV Allied Artist Annual Juried exhibition, WV Watercolor Society Juried Exhibition, the WV State Juried Exhibition, WV Arts and Crafts Juried Exhibition and several WV Calligraphy exhibits at the West Virginia State Cultural Center.  Jo Anne is a past member of Gallery Eleven and has taught several workshops and given demonstrations of various medias.

Awards include "Best of Show" of the Allied Artist Juried Exhibition and a merit award from the WV Watercolor Juried Exhibition.  She has also had artwork published in several issues of Stamper's Sampler Magazine.  In addition to being published she has had works included in a traveling exhibit for ZimPrints, a fabric paint company of Knoxville, TN.

Her work often reflects a calligraphic background, utilizing various brushstroke techniques. She uses a variety of subject matter for still life and landscape paintings.  The abstracts are totally inventive. She begins these with no particular pattern or design in mind.  "I hope to give the viewer a feeling of being lost within my color fantasies."