About Me

Joanne Onorato

I am a New Yorker who has been happily living on Bainbridge Island since 1995. My adventures painting with oils began when I was one year old and used my mother’s lipstick to draw on the wall.

Incorporating my intuitive world experiences into a contemporary expression enables me to combine realism with impressionism and abstraction.

In 2012, I was asked to direct a community mural project for the Seattle Food Bank which can still be viewed at the market directly outside of the Food Bank.  You can see the documentary of the mural process on YouTube at ‘Pike Market Food Bank Mural 2012’.

My artwork is currently being sold at galleries and through private commissions. You can also see my artwork throughout the United States when you visit Panera bread stores.

Watch the Pike Market Food Bank Mural 2012 video
Joanne Onorato | Onorato Art

Experience

  • Professional Photo-realism Billboard Painter for Foster and Kleiser, New York and Los Angeles.
  • Preparator for the American Museum of Natural History, New York City, specializing in painting, restoring and installing exhibits.
  • Muralist for Public Advocacy and Environmental learning with Earthright insight.
  • Art director and lead painter, working with community members, for a mural project at the Pike Place Market Food Bank.
  • Art Director for Bainbridge High School student mural installed on Winslow Way.

Education

  • SUNY Cobleskill, NY – degree in Natural Resources; Horticulture.
  • SUNY Buffalo, NY – School of Architecture: Environmental Design.
  • SUNY Stony brook, NY – studio art classes.
  • Billboard training in the field and in studio, Los Angels, CA.
  • Santa Monica College, Los Angeles –  Studio Arts and Art History.
  • Art Students League NY, Studied under David Shapel.

My Style

My style of painting is Contemporary Realism. One subject that intrigues me is working from old photographs. Every picture tells a story.

Old photographs are emotionally timeless. The gestures and period nuances can transport you to any period in time. I work in oil and a variety of mixed media.

Joanne Onorato | Onorato Art

Artist Statement

I stayed on the NYC subway while in High School because the next stop was the Guggenheim museum. It was there that I fell in love with Picasso and Klee, Dali and Modigliani. 

The Museum of Modern Art was my next love with my fascination of Warhol, Chuck Close, Matisse, Klee, Van Gogh, and Chagall to name a few. Drawn to the avant guard. I moved on to the Metropolitan Museum of Art astonished by the Renaissance works, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Sargent.

Uncle Mio brought me to a billboard shop in Maspeth, Queens. It was Foster & Kleizer. I was about 12 years old. He told me, “You’re gunna be a billboard painter some day.” The idea stuck , though I was resistant because it was “commercial art”.

Five years of college, boat building School, Art Students League, NYC, Santa Monica College, and photo realism school through the Billboard union…

Joanne Onorato Billboard-Painter | Onorato Art

Fast forward to... I needed a job.

I applied and got into Foster & Kliezer as an apprentice. I got the position and loved it.

Later, after transferring to their LA shop, the world went digital and I left billboards. I was crushed . Then again there was James Rosenquist, the billboard painter

I shared his vision. He painted products and people in a consumer world but it was never about product. Painting for the sake of painting, regardless of who my Patron was.

Joanne Onorato | Onorato Art

So, who am I?

I am Joanne Lucille Rosemary Onorato. I am my big loving New York Italian family I am their stories. I am the world of food, places, forests, organic gardens, politics, feminism, an advocate for clean air and energy – a Bainbridge Islander.

Then I entered the world of Winslow Art Center owned by Martha Jordan. Located on Winslow Way on Bainbridge Island, WA.

A new world opened to me as I took art classes and workshops with a talented group of fine artists from all over the world. I met my people – fellow artists from all walks of life and art.

I joined Pawa, Pacific Art West Association, and went out and painted. Battle Point Park, Mt Rainier, Mt Baker, Blakley Harbor….

My work speaks of nature, of joy, of memories, of people. I am evolving through the past and present. Each stroke in my painting is a moment. I hope you can join me in my journey.

-Joanne Onorato

Pike Place Market Mural | Onorato Art

“Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.”

– Edgar Degas