Greetings. So glad you stumbled upon my little spec of cyber space. My name is Joanne Van Genderen. I have a pretty obvious “tell”. If I introduce myself as Joni that means my guard is down and I’m up for almost anything. Joanne, on the other hand, indicates a more formal side of my personality, generally used when I speak to law enforcement to try to get out of a ticket or possibly when I have to pay my water bill, depending on my state of mind.

I love everything about art. I love making art, teaching art, seeing art, talking about art, selling art, buying art, buying art supplies I don’t need, organizing said art supplies in a too small studio….you name it. I even love that moment of frustration when I think what I’m making is pure trash. Even that moment. If you are an artist, you know what I’m talking about.

The purpose of this site differs according who’s explaining it.

Joanne would say, “The purpose of this site is to help lead me to business and career opportunities and extend my on-line reach.” Then you’d hear a bunch of things like “connecting people to my brand” and “search engine optimization”.

Joni, on the other hand, would say something like this…“It’s purely for the fun of putting my art out there with the possibility of someone, anyone really, connecting with my content in some way. And maybe someone likes what they see and wants to buy something, or ask me about my workshops, or invite me to their workshop, or just talk art.”

Another truth about my purpose here is that I really like to write. I missed my calling as a journalist so blogging is the next best thing. And I don’t have to get any of those pesky rejection letters.