They might have put her in the glove compartment. That's what they told her later on anyway. Chester Kwiecinski had just completed his Masters of Arts program from the Kansas City Art Institute, and with his wife, two toddlers and a baby six weeks old in tow, the family was moving back to Youngstown, Ohio .
He was going back to begin building his homestead, a refurbished barn on three acres among the rolling hills of North Eastern, Ohio. Growing up there, Joan was mesmerized by the sparkle of light and sun. Observing this beauty, Joan developed a keen sense of awareness of light and dark patterning.
As a child, Joan would find her father in his studio and they would talk about art. Her father encouraged her as an artist by discussing color and how it changes with light, and other aspects such as line, tone, movement and texture: an Impressionistic way of viewing life.
At age 10, Joan saw New Mexico for the first time and knew she was destined to be there. The Kwiecinskis had a family art show when she was just 11 years old at the Butler Institue of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio . Five years after that, Joan succeeded in talking her father into moving the family to New Mexico. The incredible experience of watching Turtleback - Caballo mountain range change colors throughout the day, led Joan to plein air painting. This evolved her ability to see fully as an artist: nature, in all its complexity.An inward imagination also serves as an experience of inner vision, where she observed color, shapes, movement and unworldly light. She painted a series she called "Innerscapes", reflecting this inner vision. Joan found that working in series' enhanced her creativity. Her latest collection is a series of florals, all oil paintings, entitled Kwiaty. Kwiaty is the Polish word for flower, blossom, month of flowers, or April. Her surname, Kwiecinski is derived from this root word.
Joan has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Albuquerque
