Joyce Reuland

Drawing and painting have always been a part of my life. As a child, my favorite thing to do was to sketch, color or paint something. That carried over into my adult life. My experience and love of watercolors began while studying with renowned artist, Ruth VanSickle Ford, AWS, and continues to this day.

From the time I began working in watercolors I have been drawn to painting homes or buildings of some nature. This led to my doing portraits of homes in watercolor or pen & ink. Many of these are done for area realtors as gifts for their clients. My attention to detail and light and dark values provide an appealing contrast that give my paintings an intuitive, yet engaging point of view. I want my paintings to feel like you are really there and could walk right into them.

In the spring of 2004 my artistic journey led me on a new adventure. After a need and desire to explore my creativity, I came upon collage with mixed media. The spontaneity and freedom it provides has been very exhilarating and fulfilling.

My love of color has taken me in the direction of my much loved florals as well as nature themes. I would describe this new style and technique as impressionistic abstracts.

Previously associated with Gallery Row in St. Charles, I have exhibited my work in juried exhibits throughout the Midwest. Locally, my work can be found hanging in area financial institutions, the Aurora Public Library and DuPage Library System. I was the featured artist in the 1995 Valley Instant Printing “Views of the Valley” calendar, and was one of the artists featured in their 1998 and 2000 calendar. In January of 2001, Aurora University presented “Capture the Moment”, an exhibit of 25 watercolors and pen & ink sketches of my work.

Among my hundreds of commissioned works throughout the country, the most notable include a portrait of the Paramount Arts Centre (for actor Ed Asner,) a pen & ink drawing of the new athletic facility of Rosary High School, two watercolors of the Millennium Plaza; one for the city of Aurora and the other was presented to the landscape designer at First Night 2000, and a watercolor of the entrance to the Aurora Country Club.

In 1999 I opened Gallery 44, a co-operative of area artists located at 50 East Galena Boulevard in Aurora, Illinois. I am a member of the Aurora Public Art Commission and exhibit my work at the AnamArt Gallery in Naperville, Illinois and also at the Proud Fox Gallery in Geneva, IL. Another project I have been involved in has been floor director for “Not Just for Seniors”, a program on our local access television station. I also produce a few of their programs where we bring in an artist who shares their work and tells us a little about themselves. I was also previously affiliated with the Waterfront Gallery at the Abbey Resort in Fontana, Wisconsin as a house portrait artist and also did a few paintings of boats and businesses as well.