Joan’s preferred medium is oil on canvas; however, for sketching trips, she use watercolour and oil pastel.

From 1977 to 1996 Joan held over twenty solo exhibitions, as well as participating in group showings locally and in Montreal.

She exhibited in Kingston, Belleville, Ottawa and Toronto during that time, with her subject matter ranging from impressionistic tree-scapes, spiritual pieces, as well as colourful abstracts.

In 2007 and again in 2010, Joan presented major exhibitions of her work at Cedar Ridge Gallery in Scarborough, Ontario.

In 1984, 1985 and again in 1987, Joan painted a new series of paintings while volunteering as an artist-in-residence for area schools. The projects lasted about three months each, and students were invited to visit her classroom studio to watch the paintings develop. Joan then gave instruction in their individual classrooms and an exhibition was held of their joint efforts. This experience was productive and inspiring for Joan, as young people have been an important part of her earlier work as a dance and majorette instructor for over twenty years.

EXHIBITION HISTORY

1977 -1979 Solo exhibitions in Cornwall , Ontario

1980 First Toronto exhibition

1982 – 1984 Participated in Festival de Arts, Montreal , Que

1982 Solo show, Royal Trust Tower , Toronto , On

1983 First exhibition in Kingston, On

1983 Fall exhibition, Coral Studio, Unionville, On

1984 Bicentennial, Invitational Group Show, Cornwall , On

1985 Fall showing, Royal York Hotel, Toronto , On

1986 Solo exhibition, Cornwall Regional Art Gallery

1986 C.R.A.G. Summer Traveling Group Show

1986 Wood House Museum , Solo Show, Cornwall , On

1986 MacDonald Club, Artist of the Month, Ottawa , On

1986 Del Bello Gallery, Juried Exhibition, International Miniatures, Toronto , On

1987 Kingston Public Library, Wilson Room , Solo Show (February)

1987 Cedar Ridge Studio Gallery, Scarborough , Solo Show (May)

1987 Cornwall Regional Art Gallery , Solo Show, (November) Cornwall , On

1988 Belleville Public Library Gallery, Solo Show

1995 C.R.A.G. Trees and Sky, Tribute to 50th anniversary of Emily Carr’s death, Solo Show

1996 Earth and Sky: Combined exhibition with clay artist, Janet Keefe at Gallery Collections, Windsor , On

1996 Boulders and Branches, Second showing of work with clay artist, Janet Keefe, Nor Westers and Loyalist’s Museum, Williamstown, On

2003 Homeward Bound: An Exhibition of new paintings, Lancaster , On

2004 Participated in Apples & Art Studio Tour, Cornwall area

2004 Group showing, Arbor Gallery, Vankleek Hill , Ontario

2005 Flying Solo Exhibition, Lancaster , On

2005 Art in the Family Cornwall Regional Art Gallery , with Edgar Levy, Joan’s father, and John Earle , and Lisa Earle , her children

2007 Tribute to Jack’s Farm, major exhibition, Cedar Ridge Studio Gallery, Scarborough , On

2008 Group Show, Opus 3, The Abbey for the Arts, North Lancaster , On

2010 Joyride in a Paintbox, Solo Show, Cedar Ridge Art Studio, Scarborough, On

2011 Group Showing, The Gallery Wall, Bloor Street West, Etobicoke, On

2015 A Symphony of Colour, Solo Show, St. Lawrence College, Aultsville Theatre Foyer, Cornwall, On

2017 Dancing Brushes – Retrospective, Solo Show, John Parrott Gallery, Belleville, On

SPECIAL PROJECTS

1984 Volunteered as Artist in Residence, Nativity School, Cornwall , ON

Set up studio in one of the classrooms for two months; painted a series based on the music of Andre Gagnon. Students participated through observation and also150 students created their own painting. Exhibition was held at the school of both artist’s work and that of the students. This series was later shown at an Andre Gagnon concert, and also, at the Palais de Congres in Montreal , Quebec .

1985 Volunteered for three months as Artist in Residence, Iona Academy, St. Raphael’s, ON

Set up studio in school and created a series of paintings based on the music of Roger Whittaker. Regular visits to the studio by the students, learning techniques, and then doing their own paintings under the guidance of the artist. Students were from kindergarten to grade eight. Followed up by school exhibition, and showing at Cornwall Gallery.

1987 Volunteered as Artist in Residence, Mohawk School , Akwesasne Reserve near Cornwall, ON

Presentation of the work of poet Wallace Havelock Robb, Canadian poet who specialized in writing about native people. (W.H.Robb resided at Abbey Dawn, near Kingston, ON) A series of paintings was created based on his poetry, and worked with senior students on painting technique, with regular visits to the studio classroom, and followed this by a painting demonstration in each class.

Students and the artist combined efforts to present an exhibition of all of the paintings at the end of the project, which took two months. The artist followed this with a special showing at the Belleville Library gallery in 1988 to celebrate the centennial of Robb’s birth in Belleville in 1888.

Exhibition History

By Joan Levy Earle