Background
Joan is a lifelong artist with a degree in Scientific Illustration from Northern Illinois University. At the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, she performed the plant dissections and created the new species illustrations for ethno-botanist Timothy Plowman. She has worked as a surface designer and continues to draw, finding that figure drawing remains an indispensable habit.
Influences
Looking at mid-twentieth century painting grounded ideas about dynamic composition, and awareness of the early cut-outs of Chicago artist David Lee Csicsko helped form Joan’s design sensibilities. Historical objects, contemporary architecture, and other artists’ sketchbooks hold endless fascination for her.
Philosophy
Joan is directed to present work that is unsentimental and unpredictable. She likes the paradox that successful work feels consciously composed, while at the same time, it is just revealed, as if the viewer is discovering something that has always been in existence.
Interesting Fact
Joan is published in several Lark Books 500 Series and Ceramics Monthly. She has been the recipient of numerous awards from exhibiting nationally and internationally. She originated and co-curated the “Drink This, The Workhouse International Ceramic Cup Show” for three years.