Joan was born in Providence, Rhode Island and has lived most of her life there before relocating to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, four years ago. She and her husband now summer in Foster, Rhode Island.
Joan began her career in art in the early '60s. She graduated from Bristol Community College's art certificate course and has continued her training through several studio courses including snug harbor in Tiverton, Helen Ross in Swansea, MA, Steve Olzewski in Westport, MA, Dennis Broadbent of Dartmouth, MA, Mary Post, of Little Compton, RI, Newport Art association, Newport, RI, Jack Colwell of Fall River, MA, Chris Zhang, and Lois Constantine of Mystic Art Association, Mystic, CT, Charles Gruppe of Pawcatuck, CT, Blaney Harris, of Ledyard, CT, continuing education Courses at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, and Brunswick Community College, Supply, North Carolina. Joan has also had various other classes with Terry Buckner of Doe Creek Gallery, Shallotte, NC, Mary Whyte, of Charleston, SC, Barbara Flueri, of Calabash, NC, Mike Rooney, and Susan Dade of NC, Jim Horton of South Carolina, Fred Graff of Ohio, and Betty Brown of Wilmington, NC.
She also completed a workshop with Charles Gruppe in Andalucia, Spain.
Her varied interests through her career have included; works in oils, pastels, water colors, woodcuts, scrimshaw, pen & ink, printmaking, and photography. Her interest in photography "developed" about fifteen years ago as a means of documenting her art work, but it has grown since to become another major field of her endeavor.
Joan has also attended many classes and seminars in this field, one of which was at the Northeast Institute of Professional Photographers, in Holyoke, Mass. Entitled "Creative Portraiture", and at the Lake Junaluska, NC Seminar by the Carolina Nature Photographer’s Association.
Her
works have been shown in many art shows and museums throughout the New
England area, and now in north and South Carolina. She has a good
collection of ribbons and awards to show for her efforts. She also had
her works featured in a calendar, post cards, a photograph in an
international magazine, the united way brochure cover, and published in
the Rhode Islander section of the providence journal.
Joan’s works were used to decorate the walls of the set for the movie, "Stuck On You" a Farrelly Brothers movie.
Joan is a past president of east Greenwich Art Club, a former board member of the Bristol Art Museum, charter member of the Little Compton Art association, life member of Westport Art Assoc, member of the Waterway Art association of North Carolina, Brunswick arts council, member Costal Carolina Camera Club. Former member of the Rhode Island News Photographer's Association (having worked with the "Sakonnet Times" in Bristol, RI for several years) a former member of the Professional Photographers of New England, a member of East Greenwich Art Club, a former member of Newport Art Association, past president of Fall River Art Association and a former member of the Photographic Society of Rhode Island.
She has taught oil painting at the Brownell House in Little Compton, RI, in Scituate, RI, and also at her (former) home studio in Tiverton, RI and in the summers teaches classes in oils, watercolor and pastels in Summit, RI as well as oils and watercolor for the East Greenwich, RI Department of Parks and Recreation Senior Center .
Joan and her husband operate "The Picture Window", a small photography and art business in Greene, Rhode Island. Joan also maintains a studio in Ocean Isle Beach, NC.
