We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joe Petri a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Joe, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’ve always been drawing and painting from a very young age. My mother always encouraged my creativity and artistic abilities. When I was about 10 years old she signed me up for a drawing class at the San Antonio Art Institute. However, she confused “still life drawing” and “ life drawing”. Imagine my surprise when she dropped her robe for 5 minute poses. Once I got over it, I just did what everyone else in the room was doing and focused on producing the best drawing I could do with my conte crayon. It was a valuable learning experience and I remembered it for many years after, especially when I was in college studying architecture and art. I did not pursue a career in art until after I retired from the Nursery and Landscape Industry for over 30 years. I now have a studio in Sarasota surrounded by other artists where I get to be as creative as I can using all of the art lessons from over the years.

Joe, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I first started painting while learning the watercolor process, I combined it with my passion for architecture, especially the scenes I experienced while traveling around Europe. Over time, I became extremely interested in painting with the versatile medium of acrylic paints. I have been exploring all the possible ways that I could represent landscapes abstractly and have focused the past few years on rendering the mangroves and their reflections in the water. It has been a wonderful creative journey and the body of work I’ve produced shows that journey.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Letting myself go and trusting my instincts during the creative process has been the most satisfying. Using all the lessons of composition, focal points and color harmony has helped me to produce a comprehensive body of work that I am proud of.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Paint what you feel and what you want the viewer to feel, capture their imagination through color and shape to lead the eyes around the painting to tell a story.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://joepetriart.com/
• Instagram: @petrijoe