Member Art Series at CAS ... Joan Burkhard
Face
Child on the beach
Cow
BIO:
Joan Burkhard, psychotherapist and administrator, has lived in Stockbridge for most of her adult life. She received her BS degree from the University of Connecticut where she met her husband of 47 years in the marching band. Joan began her career in Special Education and became the Director of Student Services for the Berkshire Hills Regional School District. In 1976, She and Dan, an electrical engineer transformed into a computer teacher at the Middle School in Great Barrington, purchased Riverbrook Residence on Ice Glen Road in Stockbridge. They developed the residence into one of the premier care centers for women with developmental disabilities in New England.
Along the way, they both received Master’s Degrees in Education from Westfield University and Joan went on to study at Adelphi University earning her MSW in 1987.
Joan and Dan are the parents of two grown married children and adore their five grandchildren.
Joan Burkhard:
Throughout the course of my life, beautiful physical surroundings have influenced my ability to feel grounded in my work. I am fortunate to live in the Berkshire Hills where the seasons provide continual visual delight. Over a 45-year career in human services, I have assisted people with disabilities to develop their creative talents through music, the visual arts, dance or poetry and writing. These women, with developmental disabilities, make their home in the former estate of artist Frederic Crowninshield, a contemporary of Tiffany’s. Crowninshield’s stained glass windows grace many locations including Boston churches and buildings on the Harvard campus. It is my pleasure and responsibility to oversee their lives and the upkeep of a magnificent property in Stockbridge, MA. The combination of this devotion and the need to create led me to the study of painting.
While I believe you need a lifetime to become truly proficient, painting is a passion I embrace with time and energy. I paint what I love – and as someone who cares deeply for people, I am often drawn to the human form to attempt to capture a moment in time. My work has been shown at libraries, community centers, competitive art shows and at local galleries.
I have traveled to Tuscany to study with Barry John Raybould. Through the miracle of the Internet, I have been an online, long-distance, student of his. My instruction began about fifteen years ago, with Larry Zingale whose playful approach hooked me immediately. Several courses at IS183 influenced my technique. The study of still life with Sue Godwin and John Lundquist, whose work is found in galleries throughout the New England and New York area, provided rich and comprehensive instruction. I also spent time in the studio of Joan Griswold, whose paintings of our favorite rooms bathed in light and shadow, are exhibited across the United States.
I hope you will find pleasure in viewing my work.
Joan Burkhard
413-717-0125
​