Joan Elliott has a process-oriented approach towards painting, working with both geometric patterning and landscape imagery. Inspired by recent travels to Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Uzbekistan, she has researched and documented a wide variety of geometric patterning onsite. In her Richmond, Virginia studio, she layers transcribed patterns and threadlike linework to build new arrangements, weaving densely graphic and radiant structures within her paintings.

Joan has been an instructor at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Studio School for over 25 years. She has been awarded various distinctions, including the Franz and Virginia BaderFund Grant as well as inclusion in the VMFA exhibition Un/Common Ground. Her work is represented by Reynolds Gallery in Richmond, Virginia, and is included in many corporate and private collections. She received her BFA in Painting from Virginia Commonwealth University.