Joel David Holsinger

http://jdholsingerfineart.fineartworld.com

Born in 1974 in Dayton, Ohio, Joel David Holsinger began creating artwork prolifically early in his childhood, being greatly encouraged by his parents and siblings. As well, it was his great-aunt Mary Summit, a gifted artist, whose paintings first filled his young eyes with artistic wonder and possibilities. She gave him some instructional books on drawing and painting very early in his life which left a lasting impression. Motivated by inborn creativity, and by excellent art instructors in his youth, most prominently by artist and art educator, Terry Chamberlain (then his high school art teacher), Holsinger's art education and early positive influences instilled in him a strong desire to to pursue his calling as a fine artist.

In 1992, at age 18, he was honored to be recognized as a Scholastic Arts Award Portfolio Finalist. He went on to receive a bachelors degree in Fine Art at Miami University of Ohio, after receiving a full-tuition art scholarship which was awarded to him by the Gibson Greetings Foundation. He graduated in 1996 with a B.F.A. in Painting and Graphic Design.

After working as a graphic designer at Campbell-Hausfeld, next at Cedarville University, and later as an art instructor at Dayton Christian High School (there as an alumnus), Holsinger moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1998, working as a fine artist for more than six years at the Phoenix Art Group.
In 2004, Holsinger began working independently with Perrell Fine Art and for two years with Third & Wall Art Group, while painting full-time out of his art studio in Mesa, Arizona, now known as the Holsinger Fine Art & Design studio. From 2005 to 2007 his artwork was juried in three consecutive years to the Scottsdale Celebration of Fine Art show, an annual ten week long show and working art space involving 100 artists, national and international.
Today, Holsinger continues to paint prolifically from his art studio in Mesa, Arizona where he sells his work directly through galleries and to collectors as well as to the trade, collaborating greatly with Capstone Art, based in San Jose, California. His artwork can be found in private and corporate collections (including in those of some well-known celebrities), as well as in fine art galleries and upscale hotels and resorts around the world.
Holsinger is very grateful for all those who have generously encouraged him along the way. He continues to develop and refine his distinctive artistic vocabulary and style. Building on an early foundation of his mostly traditional, representational artwork, within the last decade, as a result of various artistic influences, he has also become very interested in abstract painting and has created and sold hundreds of vibrant, abstract pieces alongside his traditional, representational artwork which he has always enjoyed creating.

Beneath the surface, the focus of his work is philosophical and spiritual, emanating from his Christian worldview. His paintings, whether abstract or traditional, are inspired by biblical principles of timeless truth, life, beauty, wisdom, and love. Many of Holsinger's artistic subjects are drawn from music, landscapes, architecture, biblical passages, classical literature, and world history, all synthesized with various contemporary influences.
Holsinger's creative process combines a balance of planning and spontaneity. He predominantly works with acrylic, oil, and watercolor, as well as some incorporated collaged elements, and occasionally with mixed media. He works on various substrates including canvas, coventry rag vellum paper, metal boxes, wooden boxes, and does "reverse painting" on plexiglass that is later mounted on boxes. Continually exploring the boundaries of the various media he employs, he works with multiple layering techniques, as well as with some unorthodox painting tools. He makes it a priority to work with high-quality materials and media that will result in more archivally-sound artwork.

Holsinger likes demonstrating through his art and in conversation the often-overlooked relationships between the "real" elements and the "abstract" elements in works of art. His paintings seek to fit the past with the present, the old with the new, the traditional with the contemporary.
Holsinger is drawn to ancient, weathered surfaces with a rich patina and sophisticated visual textures. He is enthralled by multiple, consecutive layers of rich colors showing from beneath the layers above. It is his hope that viewers of his work will enjoy the aesthetics of his artwork and be rewarded by taking a closer look "beneath the surface", beyond the artwork to examine themselves and the art in a deeply meaningful way.