Hirdie Girdie Gallery hosts a different guest artist each month.
We are pleased to be representing, for the month of March 2021, artist JoAnn LaPadula
JoAnn LaPadula is an award-winning artist who resides in Fort Myers, Florida where she moved four years ago after living in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State her entire life. She is a director and member of Fort Myers Beach Art Association, a member of Alliance for the Arts, and the Florida Watercolor Society. Her work has been featured on the cover of the Sand Life Magazine, in Gulfshore Life, and online on exhibit with the Florida Watercolor Society. Some of her works reside in collections as far away as Guantanamo and California.
She obtained a BA degree in art from Buffalo State after graduating from Rockland Community College. After graduation, she worked in the field of graphic design for 30 years.
Retirement gave her the opportunity to return to her interest in fine arts and she began painting in watercolor. JoAnn states: “I was not interested so much in the traditional watercolor style, so I attended a few workshops to find my own. I do not consider myself a traditional watercolor artist but would say I am more of a ”colorful” abstract/realist. Here in SWFL I am thrilled to say I was able to find people who have been a great inspiration to me and I found the support I needed to begin my second career.”
Hirdie Girdie Gallery hosts a different guest artist each month.
Hirdie Girdie Gallery is pleased to announce contemporary acrylic artist Anita Putnam as April Guest Artist.
Anita worked in the insurance industry, but has created art all her life. She attended the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts and studied with nationally known painters. She currently paints in a minimalist style that distills her subject matter into its simplest forms. She reduces a complicated subject into a few basic shapes that capture its gesture and character.
The large flat shapes are made interesting by subtly varying their hue and intensity. Expressive gestures fill the paper and asymmetrical positive shapes create interesting negative shapes. These works of art are full of life and energy.
Anita has the ability to find the exact gesture that tells a story and imparts a sense of warmth, intimacy and friendship. Her paintings make seemingly unimportant experiences and unnoticed subjects awaken all our senses. She creates a world of figures, patterns, questions, and fun, brimming with a multitude of active shapes and colors.
Formerly a resident of Connecticut and Sanibel and now living at Shell Point, Anita participates in the juried shows at the community’s Tribby Art Center, winning many awards for her unique art.
