Art Reception: Jo Stripling: A Retrospective – Gallery in the Round

Jo Stripling (1928-2012) was raised in Alabama and resided much of her life in Tallahassee, Florida. Her work is provided by her family in Ames. Jo received her degree in art from the University of Montevallo, Alabama in 1949, and her art career spanned 1961 to 2012.

“My work is in acrylic – a speedy and wonderful medium – I set down my pictures with speed then spend the rest of my time trying to perfect them.

I never make preliminary studies or extensive sketches before I begin a painting, I just prime the surface, block on the composition broadly and begin to paint. This is not to say I do not prepare or plan or know where I am going. I’ve thought about what I want to try to say, usually while I’m out mowing the grass or grocery shopping.

I try to say something about a scene and not just reproduce it. My work has been described as abstract realism — and it probably fits. It is an interpretive designing or patterning of the subject.

I try to make you aware of the racing of lines and shades of color, or the way light falls a different way and changes everything.

I paint with a single-edged razor blade which allows sharper lines and areas. I like rich colors and use an overpainting style which lets one color bleed through another giving a vibrant look to the painted surface.”