Expression of mystery and psyche

Published 1:30 am Thursday, February 19, 2026

On display in the Homer Public Library’s Fireplace Lounge is a body of work by local artist Joella Clove that is loosely themed around plant, human and extraterrestrial life and divided into two categories.

“One part is ink drawings with a focus on line and minimalism and the second part is acrylic black and white expressionist and surrealist paintings,” Clove said. “Most of my art practice is inspired by an inner fire of wanting to find, know and express mystery and psyche.”

“Her Flowers” is an acrylic painting on board that Clove completed this past January, utilizing simple black lines to depict two tall flowers facing upward.

“This work was an exercise to stretch my creative process,” she said. “I worked in many layers and used sanding, which I had never done before in my practice. I had the vision for an expressionist work. Coming into the vision through a prolonged layering process required more seeing and experimentation than the process of my one-layer painting.”

“Aleah” is Clove’s ink drawing of a face, drawn last fall, with the goal being to showcase the individual’s essence over their actual likeness, accomplished through loose line work and soft edges.

“I wanted the soul to see and be seen,” she said.

“While Worlds Burn,” an ink on paper piece created last fall, appears at first glance to be an abstract chaos of blurred lines and swirls.

“This drawing favors symbolism,” Clove said. “I felt a bit of archaic cave art coming through. I imagine that human habitat is represented under the flowers. The flowers may be a cosmic umbilical cord. The grass may be flames, but we are there and belong somehow.”

Clove’s primary medium is currently in flux, but she has worked mainly in watercolor and ink. Her first focused art practice began with simple drawing books when she was a pre-teen. At the age of 18, she took a more serious approach to her art, teaching herself pencil drawing and watercolor.

“I come from a rural farming family and have yet to become immersed in and familiar with the public art world,” Clove said. “I often make a series once or twice a year and at times materialize the work every day. I am always seeing and knowing in my mind, which contributes to the work, but materializing the concepts hasn’t been turned into a full-time occupation. I have not made an extensive body of large works, in part due to logistics. Most work has been done on paper, a few on cloth canvas, a few on wood panel.”

Particularly inspired by surrealist artists like Frida Kahlo, Clove is most drawn to those who made what they saw and not necessarily the likeness of an object.

“I like the person of Frida Kahlo, but I don’t really like the work as much as I like the way she did it,” she said. “I am inspired because I see like an artist, which is lame, but also just true. I think neurodivergence makes me want to show other people the world the way I see it.

“I am inspired by the surrealist artists who ‘went for it,’ and by acquaintances and friends who see intricacy and unknowableness in the world and go to those edges. I just love art and I prefer the art to do the working, and I only want to be along for the ride as I follow it into realization.”

A Homer resident since last summer, Clove is taking online classes and works as a freelance creator, doing her art part-time. Prior to moving to Alaska, her work was featured in gallery shows and she had participated in festivals and street vending. In Homer, she showed her work at Ptarmigan Arts for several months, and while she has done a number of commission pieces, she prefers to do commission on a concept verses the idea of realism.

“I don’t want resemblance work to be the route I take going forward,” she said. “I can see a commission on a concept, but I want to evolve my work to a point where someone is buying a ‘Clove,’ and the result is less often my rendering of an object and more often MY rendering of an object. I do want my work to be visible and marketable and my attention is moving toward matching opportunities with ability and finding ways to use my talent in a paid contract.”

Clove’s work can be found on display in the library’s Fireplace Lounge through March. Her work can be found online @joellacloveart where she can also be contacted for sales and commissions.