The Invitation 40x30

Acrylic on canvas 40"x30"

Jo-Anne Taraba lives and works in the Niagara region. She completed an

Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from York University and

attained a Bachelor of Education from Western University. She has been an

artist and Visual Arts Educator at the secondary level for over three decades,

advocating for emerging young artists, and now paints full-time. Her art has

been published and is found in private and public collections. Her work

explores the intersection of the universal human journey and the natural

world, a narrative told through the dynamic weaving of light, energy,

movement and colour. Her goal is to visually articulate the archetypes we

embody, and the environments that mirror our internal stories, drawing on

myth and personal experience to create a resonant dialogue on the seasons

of life, nestled in fragrances of nostalgia and memory.

She creates using oil and acrylic paints for their distinct properties, leveraging

the fast-drying nature of acrylics to build dynamic, textured under-layers that

establish a sense of energy and movement, and the rich depth and blendability of oils to refine and infuse the work with luminous light where colour

and light become potent symbols in their own right. Ultimately, her pieces

invite the viewer to connect with universal symbols and archetypes,

recognizing their own journey mirrored in the work. The paintings are

intended to be a visual meditation, vibrant and tactile, inviting contemplation

of the transient yet cyclical nature of existence and the powerful forces that

shape our lives.