About the Artist
Jo-Neal was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She attended what is now called Cal State University East Bay, where she majored in dance and minored in theater arts. She began painting a month before age 40 and because she had been a teacher for close to 20 years, she went back to school to earn a credential to teach art. Although retired from teaching high school in Santa Cruz, California, she is still teaching...adults. She studied fresco painting and restoration as well as oil painting and restoration in Florence, Italy as part of her preparation for teaching art. Teaching at the secondary level encouraged her to add to her repertoire a variety of media. She remains the eternal student! She paints what touches her soul and warms her heart! She has been influenced by a large number of artists. Tops on her list these days are John Singer Sargent and Joaquin Sorolla. Early influences were Georgia O'Keefe and Gustav Klimt.