Joan Wale

"I am often asked - What kind of flower is that? or Where is that house? I can't always answer these questions because, my art does not always come from what I see at the moment, but rather from visions of nature, flowers, and architecture that come from my mind and my heart." —Joan Wale

Joan, a native of New Jersey, has lived in the Bay Area for over thirty-five years, and has resided in Sonoma County since 1992. Early on she did oil paintings, but most recently has devoted all of her artistic endeavors to watercolor and watercolor collage. She has studied with several local artists including Marge Gray, Judy Greenberg, Sylvia Miller, Susan Cornelis, and Phyllis Rapp. Joan has taken workshops from Betsy Dillard Stroud and Lian Zhen, and she attends a yearly workshop given by Barbara Nechis in Calistoga, California.

Joan enjoys experimenting with things that change the painting such as salt, liquid rubber, starch, plastic wrap, etc. She loves to let the paint flow in its own direction looking for
unexpected results which then lead to the correct conclusion for the painting. She strives for originality in approach, concept, technique and subject matter and almost all of her paintings are abstract or expressionistic.

Joan's artwork has appeared in local art shows, galleries, wineries, and fairs and she has won numerous awards for her creative watercolors. Locally you can see her art the Upstairs Gallery, 306 Center Street in Healdsburg, California. Her work can be seen in private collections all over the United States and in Europe. Joan loves watercolor and has been a very active member of the Watercolor Artists of Sonoma County since its conception in 1993.

Contact Joan:
Post Office Box 2084
Healdsburg, CA 95448
Phone: (707) 433-6714
Fax: (707)433-1964
Email: mjwale@aol.com

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© 2006 Watercolor Artists of Sonoma County