Joan LaRue was born in western Oklahoma in the family farmhouse. She started out with a Shetland pony and has been traveling out-of-doors ever since. Remote corners of Nepal, Bolivia, Guatemala, Alaska, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Mexico, Italy, Turkey, France and Canada have stimulated her plein-air paintings. Currently living in Tucson, Arizona, she and the bear are always “going over the mountain to see what they can see.”

      In Southwest Art she said, “I find that the more I paint, the more I observe and the more I realize what I missed observing the year before. I don’t know if the process will ever end. I hope it doesn’t. When you’re standing still, you could be sliding backwards. There is so much out there. I feel I have to keep reaching, exposing myself to life every moment because this isn’t dress rehearsal. It’s the real thing. I feel compelled to gather up all I can and share it. In life, it’s so easy to build a fence around oneself, not intentionally, but to become fearful or protective or so self-oriented or self-serving. It stands to reason, if one leaves the gates open, people, concepts and paintings can flow through.”

      Joan has garnered superior accolades, including Best of Show, for oils displayed in countless juried, invitational and one-person shows. Professional honors encompass membership in Plein Air Painters of America, California Art Club, Society of American Impressionists, Oklahoma Society of Impressionists, Who’s Who in American Art, Tucson Plein-Air Painters’ Society, Northwest Rendezvous Group and selection for Frye Museum’s permanent collection. Southwest Art, Persimmon Hill, Art of the West, Orange Coast and Santa-Fe Focus and Artist’s magazine, regional television stations have showcased her work, as well as Oklahoma Petroglyphs exhibitions, which were shown at Tulsa’s Gilcrease and Oklahoma City’s National Cowboy Hall of Fame.

     My life has been filled with fun and adventure. Every person has challenges and bumps in the road, but one decides to step up to bat or hang back in the corner.

     My philosophy as an artist has been to push the edge of the envelope -- mostly out of my comfort zone. If one manages to keep the gates open and allow people, ideas, new concepts, different philosophies, continued growth, and experiments to flow through -- nothing can stop you -- because each piece becomes a part of “your” whole. If it doesn’t fit -- it can always be modified or dropped.

     Art is a “ticket” to anywhere one wants to go. Don’t be fearful! Gear yourself up and plug into the big master river that will take you farther than you ever hoped or imagined!