Joan Dromey



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Joan Dromey | Charleston, SC
 
Growing up, Joan excelled in her art classes at school and at her local art museum, participating in a variety of exhibitions and gaining recognition and awards. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts and Political Science from The College of the Holy Cross. 
After graduation, business and professional pursuits overtook her creative endeavors. In 2006, an extended vacation inspired her to paint once again. In addition to oil and acrylic painting, she began working in soft pastel. Focusing on her surroundings and embracing the local landscapes, pastel painting offered her a new avenue of creativity.   She has embraced this medium and has studied with nationally recognized artists Liz Haywood-Sullivan, Terry Ludwig, Richard McKinley, Stan Sperlak, Desmond O’Hagan and Dawn Emerson. Her paintings have been accepted into numerous regional and national juried shows, winning a number of awards and features: Janet T. Royce Award & Collectors Purchase, International Association of Pastels 1st Place Award, Hull Lifesaving Museum Annual Sea & Sky Show 1st Prize, Northwest Pastel Society Award, Featured in Best of America Pastel Artists, Volume II.
 
As a frequent visitor to the Lowcountry from Massachusetts’ South Shore, Charleston’s beauty, charms and people have won her over and she now resides on James Island.  She brings her training and artistic eye to creating paintings that celebrate the natural beauty of the Lowcountry, with depth, color and that Lowcountry sense of light. Her finishing details expertly capture the energy and elements of the natural landscape.
  
“My first love is the landscape around us – whether that is coastal, rural or urban. It seems to me that modern life is fairly hectic and people spend a great deal of time rushing from one thing to the next, all while passing, unseeing, through the beauty around us.  I call it ‘the forgotten landscape’.  I’m particularly taken with ‘meeting places’, where the land meets the sea, where the clouds meet the water, where the sun touches the grass.  The intersection of two separate forces…the water against the sand…just fascinates me.  For me, it’s all about ‘painting the light’ and visually telling the story of how elemental things interact (sand, sea, sky, sun).  My hope is that when people stop and look at one of my paintings, that they’ll be reminded of the forgotten landscape that they’ve undoubtedly passed through and recognize it."