ABOUT JOAN
After thirty years of owning my own art studio and gallery, The Joan Darflinger School of Fine Art in St. Charles Illinois, I am now semi-retired and reside at Lake Lanier in the scenic hills of Northern Georgia. I am currently focusing on the next exciting chapter of my life, painting for pleasure, teaching part-time and conducting worldwide painting adventures.
Career Highlights
During her career, Joan has not only taught thousands of aspiring students, but she was also one of the few TV artists to appear on PBS and cable stations throughout the U.S. for many years. She was one of the first artists to present the simple “How-To” painting shows airing weekly for millions of viewers. Joan has authored several art books, some of which are currently in circulation. She is an alumni of the prestigious School of the Art Institute Chicago, in which she enrolled at the age of 17.
Ms. Darflinger’s characteristic style includes a wide variety of subjects including landscapes, still life, seascapes, murals and portraiture. This prolific artist has created thousands of paintings throughout her career and still continues to enjoy painting and sharing her talents with clients and students everywhere.
Education & Accolades
Her skills have not gone unnoticed. Her paintings hang in numerous private and public collections throughout the United States and Europe. Her paintings have received many top awards, Best of Shows, People’s Choice, Purchase Awards and many other top awards too numerous to list. She is also a Muralist with amazing murals which now decorate client’s walls and ceilings with “fine art” rather than the often seen simple/whimsical attempts of others. Joan still accepts a few commissions for clients of various subjects.
Back in the 90’s Joan Darflinger and fellow artist Este Rayle were asked to create and implement the Alexander Art Corp. and Koh-I-Noor Corp. Certification Programs. Joan and Este certified hundreds of aspiring artists to begin their artistic journey of teaching the world to paint the incredible Bill Alexander method of painting techniques. Joan is one of the few Alexander Art artists who received the ”Master Artist” status.
Having had a classical art background Joan takes some of the Alexander techniques and applies it to her paintings which enable her to create beautiful, intricate paintings. She creates two very different series of paintings. One style is in the more time consuming classical style for her clients and commissions and a series of simpler paintings for instructional purposes for students from beginners through advanced abilities. She is currently working on a series of art packets with step-by-step instructions, photo references and color mixing charts for each painting to enable aspiring artists to learn and copy her instructional paintings.
