Joan Brancale earned a MFA in Theatre Design at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, a BA Cum Laude in Theatre Arts at Mount Holyoke College and she has studied oil painting with John Kilroy, Charles Sovek and Lois Griffel.

Her work was recently selected for the 2006 “Best and Brightest” Art Show at Scottsdale Artists’ School. Paintings have also been included in many juried shows on the South Shore. Prizes at North River Arts Society include Award of Excellence and a First Prize for oils: most recently the Society selected her work for publication in it's first annual Calendar. Awards have also been won at South Shore Art Center's Festival of the Arts.

Artist’s Statement
I take a chance moment of visual delight and develop a painting idea. It is often a split second response to a view, experience or circumstance that compels me to set down a memory. Sometimes I'm lucky to capture the painting “en plein air” but often my work is developed in the studio.
 
The ideas that become paintings are interpretative images. Guided by an initial impulse I allow my ideas time to develop, creating a folder which gathers supporting visual research, field work, design roughs and  a search for ‘the hook’, perhaps a title which helps me keep focused on what’s key.
 
When I'm ready to paint, spontaneity has been prepared for but there are always surprises ahead and it’s exciting to see a painting determine it’s own path. Fear and fun mix in the process…but hopefully magic results.

My collection offers landscapes relishing the delights and hidden charms a summer on the Cape has to offer.