Joan Reid

When Joan Reid was a child, she wanted to be a doctor, like her father. But women were not encouraged to be doctors back then.

“You could be a teacher, a secretary or a nurse,” she said. So, she became an artist, like her mother, long-

time noted local artist Peggy Reid, and combined visual arts with healing arts. At her studio on the third floor of The Shirt Factory, (studio 311) Joan Reid teaches painting, drawing, monotype print making, Reiki, and meditation.

A noted artist in her own right, Reid doesn’t teach her own personal style. Rather, she teaches students to discover an inner voice that will guide the development of a personal style.

“I make sure that everyone doesn’t paint like 1. They paint from the self,” she said.

The discovery process starts with a simple question, “What do you like to look at?” and proceeds from there.

She encourages students to close their eyes and mediate before starting a painting or drawing.

“Sometimes they get a block or don’t know what to do with a blank canvass,” she said.

Reid taught art at public schools for 35 years and at SUNY Adirondack for four semesters, before retiring from class room teaching, but not from art and art education.

“Those who have the creative gene in us, we aren’t bored, because there’s always something to do,” she said.

She has been active in local arts organizations including Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council, North Country Arts, and the Guild of Adirondack Artists.

Reid has been a tenant at The Shirt Factory, at the corner of Lawrence and Cooper Streets in Glens Falls, since 2003, and has since moved within the building twice, each time to a larger space. Her studio on the third floor has ceilings with windows that provide great lighting for art. Because the space is big, she can break it into different sections for different types of instruction, she said.

She appreciates having a large area for art supply storage.

“I’m an art supply junkie. So, all sorts of art supplies are available for when they are needed.”

Interview by Maury Thompson

Photos by Behoff Photo