S3: E2: Woodburnings: The First Five Years by Joanna Walitalo

U.P. Notable Books Club

The UP Notable Book Club presents author Joanna Walitalo speaking about her book Woodburnings: The first Five Years.

Note: This epesode talks about images that were shown durning the presentation. To see these pictures please visit the UPPAA Youtube channel or visit Joanna Walitalo's website to see more. https://jwalitalowoodburning.com/

https://youtu.be/DixKE7do3pM

JOANNA WALITALO grew up in Oil City, Michigan where she took art classes at Bullock Creek Schools taught by Mr. Matherne and Mr. Myers; both very talented artists, and teachers with endless patience. She earned a BS degree in Biology and Environmental Studies from Central Michigan University, and took art classes at the Midland Center for the Arts, where she had the opportunity to study under Armin Mersmann. While studying at CMU, she took art classes form Dietmar Krumrey II and Michael Volker. From there, she moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where she earned a Master of Forestry at Michigan Technological University. A strong love of the outdoors, and wild places, has led her to incorporate her passion for art with her professional education in order to bring the beauty of wildlife and wild places closer to the general public through scientifically accurate artwork. By far, the artist that influenced Joanna the most throughout her life has been her mom, Barb Rogers, who taught art at Coleman Middle School, MI, for many years, and always encouraged and guided Joanna to incorporate art into all her endeavors. Today, Joanna continues to live with her loving husband James, and son Little James, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, working as an artist and illustrator. "The art book is divided into chapters of Early Work, Wildlife (birds, trees and flowers, other wildlife, fish) Portraits and people, Pets (often commissioned and more dogs than cats), Puzzles, Mystic, as well as “spotlights” on people who influenced the art. One quickly sees that this artist has a wonderful style that she applies to a wide variety of topics. Her realism and attention to detail lets us see moods and personality in the eyes of her subjects—human or otherwise. While she may do several variations of one subject or theme, each is unique in terms of details and the type of wood used.