Joan Marie Giampa was born in Arlington, Virginia, in 1960. Since the early age of five, Joan has painted from her heart. Her earliest memories are of standing in front of her kindergarten easel and thinking she would be a painter when she grew up. Five decades later, she is an artist and paints what is true to her authentic self.  

 

During her formative years, playing in the wooded areas and creek beds surrounding the Potomac River basin, she grew to love the outdoors and nature. The Earth Object series reflects her deep love of nature and its vast design.  

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Joan has exhibited her paintings throughout the Mid-Atlantic area, and her paintings reside in the United States and Europe. However, her love of art extends beyond the studio, as she eventually became an educator teaching fine skills and visual communications with expertise in foundation design.

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Joan also loves learning. She holds a B.F.A. in graphic design from James Madison University and an M.F.A. in painting from the University of Maryland in 1998. In 2012, Joan received a Doctor of Art from George Mason University with a research emphasis in Art education. Joan's dissertation is titled Sinking Maps: A Conceptual Tool for Visual Metaphor.

 

​Joan is also a designer with UX/UI and graphic design expertise. She spent five years in the corporate sector as a user interface designer in healthcare marketing. Joan has a passion for creating complex pattern libraries for large software interfaces. She is a full-time artist working on a new series of paintings and a book.
 

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