Cole Gallery

Joyce Hester

Sunset Serenade by Joyce Hester
Sunset Serenade
First Run at First Light by Joyce Hester
  First Run at First Light
Clear and Present by Joyce Hester
Clear and Present
Path to the Pass by Joyce Hester
Path to the Pass
Island Light by Joyce Hester
Island Light
High Bluff, Low Tide by Joyce Hester
  High Bluff, Low Tide
Another Misty Morning by Joyce Hester
Another Misty Morning
The Long and Winding Flow by Joyce Hester
  The Long and Winding Flow
Misty Morning by Joyce Hester
  Misty Morning
Joyce Hester

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Joyce spent much of her youth in front of an easel. After serving in the Navy (as a weather observer), Joyce moved to Texas where she studied accounting, was issued a #2 pencil, and spent the next 30+ years as a CPA in healthcare - her art mothballed for many of those years.

While living and working in Russia for two years in the mid-90's, her love for art was renewed with a vengeance. Upon returning to Texas (still working in finance) she began studying art with subject matter experts and taking workshops from some of the nation's most highly regarded artists including Harley Brown, Jill Carver, Scott Christensen, Bruce Greene, Martin Grelle, Ian Roberts, and Skip Whitcomb.  During this time Joyce began to have works juried into national exhibits including the Bosque Art Classic, Scottsdale's Best and Brightest, and the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center Competition, where she was awarded an Honorable Mention. 



That sharp accountant's pencil was officially retired in 2016. Joyce is now a full-time representational artist enjoying both plein air and studio work. Creating in oils, she primarily uses an impressionist color palette. Her most recent works have shifted from the beloved longhorns that she raised and befriended in Texas to her surroundings in the Pacific Northwest, where she moved in 2017. Listening to what the muse now has to say, Joyce hasn't been disappointed. The mountains, the estuaries, the working marinas, and everything in between share with her their siren songs. So throw on a fleece, breathe deep the fresh sea air, and join Joyce on this latest creative exploration.

Artist Statement:  My thoughts regularly return to another place and time: hiking an autumn trail with the sun low in the sky, watching sailboats catch the wind, urging the thunderheads higher and higher, conversing with dogs, stumbling along cobble stoned alleys in a Tuscan hill town. Being a representational oil painter allows me to be there instead. To linger there. This is my muse. My inspiration. To be someplace else.