Although some  of my works are representations of scenes that appeal to me, many are commentaries on social or cultural issues.

Joan started life as an underappreciated child cartoonist, inspired by the often-scathing political cartoons that she saw in the newspapers. But she decided against a career as a caricaturist when the negative (and sometimes threatening) reviews started rolling in from the parents , teachers and community members who were her primary targets. Madame LaBelle (music teacher) really DID have a moustache!

All was not lost, however, as her practice and experience in drawing the human figure were an asset when she turned her attention to freelance fashion design in the Montreal area.
 Growing up in a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-cultural community in the turbulent Quebec of the ‘60s led to a lifelong interest and study in Anthropology – why do different groups of people do the things they do, think the way they think, and relate to each other with so many contrasting and opposing viewpoints?

Studies in contrast are a theme in Joan’s paintings. Daylight and darkness, then and now, good and evil, sun and shadow, them and us.