Joan Grine, presently living in North San Diego County, was born, raised and educated on the east coast. She started out in art with classes for children at the Maryland Institute of Art learning drawing with charcoal and pastel, and later studied at Mary Baldwin College, and Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia, where she received her B. A. in fine art. She has continued in classes and workshops with excellent teachers of drawing and painting. Pastels have remained her favorite medium, allowing ease for plein air painting and for the demonstrations she often gives to art organizations and at the Del Mar Fair. She gives private classes in her studio. She has also been a judge at several art shows.

The beauty of nature is the inspiration for most of Grine’s work. Her love of natural subjects, their textures, patterns and atmosphere show in her paintings and drawings. San Diego County is a great source of ideas for her art work, with the mountains, desert and the beautiful ocean views. She paints her landscapes either on location or in her studio from sketches and photos.

Her paintings have been in numerous exhibitions, solo shows, and regularly in local libraries. They have won many awards and are in homes and businesses around the world. Her work can be seen at the San Dieguito Art Guild’s Off-Track Gallery in Encinitas and the COAL Gallery in Carlsbad.