I am inspired by the luminous oyster shells and the stories-high oyster shell stacks that proliferate near my summer studio in Nahcotta, Washington. They display my long-time painting interests: spatial depth, composition, the combination of molten wax, resin, and pigment, and the colorful, painterly quality of the brush-laden mark. The Oyster Shell is an icon for the inscrutable oyster and for metaphors about nature, organic form, and the complexity of personal relationships.

I have worked with encaustic for 24 years, merging depth, color dynamics, form, texture, and the hand-made mark. I embed collage and textiles in segments that might not typically appear together. I also work with monotype, oil, and collage.

I was born in Boston and have lived and worked in Seattle since 1968. I earned a BA from Connecticut College, studied color and theology at Yale, earned an MA and MFA from the University of Iowa, and studied creative writing at the UW. I have exhibited my art at SAM, TAM, MoNA, and many other museums, institutions, and galleries. Awards include the Betty Bowen Award, Kathe Kollwitz prize for advocacy of women artists, Civita Institute's Rome Fellowship, residencies at Centrum, Pilchuck, Balestrand, Norway, Playa, Rancho Linda Vista, and a Fulbright-Hays Grant to Vietnam. I taught art for four decades at Pratt, the UW, Community Colleges, and privately to many of Seattle's artists.

I was the Design Lead for the Jury Rooms at the Kent Justice Center. Community service includes: Seattle Art and Bumbershoot Commissions, Seattle Print Arts founding board, Ballard High School Art Committee, and BallardWorks, where two partners and I maintain affordable artists' studios. I enjoy painting in the SW and in my second studio on the Washington coast.

My maternal grandparents immigrated from Sweden in the 1880s. They were professional tailors in Boston. My grandmother's family, Persson/Frockberg/Forrest, came from Gøteborg, where my great grandfather was a ship's captain. My grandfather's family, Nilsson/Nelson, came from Malmø, Skåne, where they had been farmers.

Joan Stuart Ross

e-mail: joanstuartross@gmail.com
web site: www.joanstuartross.com