Dreaming (56×56 acrylic painting on canvas)

Joan Hayes is known for her paintings of nature, landscapes and seascapes, she paints various settings ranging from a calm blue day to a daunting storm passing, thus captivating the viewer on her various representations of nature. “People often ask about the subject of my work. Some are from photographs but the majority are from my memory. Watercolor instills an element of surprise in my work. As I start in one direction, the water begins to shift, and as the paint dries, my initial idea for my work takes a completely new direction. This aspect of my work in watercolors has been my favorite part of painting.” First exposed to the arts as a teenager through a gift of painting lessons by her older sister, Joan has grown immensely in her craft. Taking art lessons in High School, supplemented by odd jobs, and going forward to study fine art at St. Michael’s College in Vermont, and interior design and fine art at the Mississippi University for Women, Joan’s ever evolving understanding and implementation of art has become a sounding board for her work, and for her role as an art dealer in the present. Joan owned and operated JT Art & Frame art gallery in New Hampshire for fifteen years. “I am both proud and grateful that for my entire adult life, I have been able to do what I love – as a painter, picture framer, gallery owner, and now an artist’s agent with Fine Leaf.” Joan was born in Burlington, Vermont, and returned to her native state after three decades of living in several other states. She currently resides on the Champlain Islands where she maintains her art studio.

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