Joane Cromwell: Painter of the California Coast

Joane Cromwell
Laguna Beach
ca. n.d.
Oil on canvas
14 x 18 inches

Artist and muralist, Joane Cromwell (1895-1969), lived most of her life on the West Coast. Born Catherine Strode, she grew up in Lewistown, Illinois, and graduated with honors from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1916. Later, following a brief marriage in 1917, Cromwell settled in Laguna Beach with her mother where, several years later for professional reasons, she adopted the name Joane Cromwell. Her studio atop Temple Hills provided a commanding view of the Pacific Ocean and the gorgeous Laguna landscape. [1]

 
To continue her art education, Cromwell moved north to Los Angeles to study at the Otis Art Institute, from which she graduated in 1929. After continued study with Edgar A. Payne, George DeMont Otis, and Jack Wilkinson Smith, she returned to Laguna Beach with her husband, Joseph Skidmore, in 1936. Her technique is painterly, as she employs broad strokes and texture in her work.

Joane Cromwell

Flowers for his Majesty's Feet (Mt. San Jacinto), Painted near Palm Springs, California

Oil on canvas

ca. n.d.

28' inches x 36 inches 

MutualArt.com

Joane Cromwell spent her early career painting local coastal landscapes and later, desert scenes. Her mural work included art for the Santa Anita Race track in 1939, and for the Hollywood Park Race Track in Inglewood, in 1942. One of her large pieces, an oil painting of San Juan Capistrano, was owned by J. Edgar Hoover, and graced the wall over the desk in his office in the F.B.I. building in Washington, D.C.

Joane Cromwell
A Laguna Landmark Passes
Oil on canvas
ca. n.d.
16 inches x 20 inches
CaliforniaArtAuction.com 

The artist, who received an honorable mention at an AIC show in 1918, later hung works at exhibitions of the Laguna Beach Art Association; Illinois State Museum, Springfield; Artists' Fiesta, Los Angeles, Desert Inn Gallery, Palm Springs, Artists of Southern California, San Diego; and Springville Museum of Art, Utah. Cromwell had a one-woman show at the La Jolla Art Club (California in 1942. In addition, she is represented in the collection of the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce. [2]  A prolific painter, over four hundred of her works are owned by patrons and collectors in the United States and abroad.

Joane Cromwell
Festival of Arts, Laguna
ca. 1936
Oil on canvas
23 x 27 inches



Joane Cromwell
Tanglewood
ca. n.d.
Oil on canvas
24 inches x 30 inches

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1. Joane Cromwell, Stewart Galleries, http://www.stewartgalleries.com/JoaneCromwell.htm, (accessed June 18, 2013).
2. Kovinick, Phil and Marion Yoshiki Kovinick, An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West, (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998), p. 60.

Vicki Snyder Sonstegard: A Life in Art

 

LACMA and Urban Light

ca. 2012
Digital Image

 If you're interested, this blog post is a bit about me and some examples of my work. I have an art and music background and I majored in art at California State University, Northridge. I spent the summer after graduation as an intern at Nickelodeon, drawing The Angry Beavers. I loved it, but my son was only eight years old and the demands of the job forced me to make a change. I ended up in education, at a school right by my home--perfect for all of us. I earned a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Education Technology. It was just the right program because, at that time, I was working as a computer specialist and taught Enrichment classes and G.A.T.E students along with my responsibilities as a school site computer technician! I've taught high school and community college Art, Life Drawing, Advanced Placement Art and Art History, and Computer Graphics. With the support of my family, I was able to work on that terminal degree. I finished my thesis on six female artists working during the early twentieth century, and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural Art History in February of this year.

So, as a women artist who lives in the west, I'd like to share some of my work. I enjoy photography, drawing, and painting and I love to photograph urban scenes. Here are some photos from San Francisco, Northern California, and in and around Los Angeles.

Window, SFMOMA
San Francisco, California
ca. 2012
Digital Image

I moved to California in 1978 and have been working variously as a graphic artist, illustrator, and art educator since then. I've done a number of logos, and am been fortunate to have been published, as well.  I prefer to draw and paint people, but I love to shoot architecture and the juxtoposition of the old and the new-mostly new here in Los Angeles.

Gargoyle
ca. 2013
Digital Image

Adirondack
ca. 2013
Digital Image

Downtown San Francisco
ca. 2012
Digital Image

Winery Wall
Napa Valley, California
ca. 2012
Digital Image



Roman Statue, View Two
Getty Villa, Malibu, California
ca. 2011
Digital Image


  

Roman Statue, View One
Getty Villa, Malibu, California
ca. 2011
Digital Image

 


























LACMA Courtyard
Los Angeles, California
ca. 2012
Digital Image

 

Deco Border
Griffith Observatory
Los Angeles, California
ca. 2012
Digital Image



Arches
Griffith Observatory
Los Angeles, California
ca. 2012
Digital Image



Hollywood Gargoyle
Hollywood, California
ca. 2012
Digital Image




Door
Gardnerville, Nevada
ca. 2012
Digital Image



Fence
 Jamestown, Virginia
ca. 2011
Digital Image


























Four Buildings
Downtown Los Angeles
ca. 2013
Digital Image



Reflection Two
Downtown Los Angeles
ca. 2013
Digital Image

 

Reflection One
Downtown Los Angeles
ca. 2013
Digital Image





The Conejo Valley
Thousand Oaks, California
ca. 2012
Digital Image

 The last shot is from my back deck on a beautiful, sunny, afternoon. I hope you've enjoyed a random sampling...next post: assorted drawings and paintings.