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The following, submitted May
2004, is from the artist.
Born in Evanston, Illinois on July 9, 1946, Joan Lutz lives in
Altamont, Illinois, where she has a studio and
gallery. She specializes in portrait art, but enjoys painting
everything that inspires her. Her style is realistic with
impressionistic elements, and her mediums are oils, acrylics, watercolor, pen and ink, and pastels.
She has paintings hanging in Le Musee de Musique in Ontario, Canada; and in The Wright House
Historic Museum of Altamont, Illinois.
Lutz's portrait paintings of
George W. Bush and Al Gore were featured in an article in the New York
Post Online Edition in 2000. The reporter stated that she is an
exceptional artist.
Lutz's artwork has been covered by The Effingham Daily News, The Clay
County Advocate Newspaper, and The Salem Advocate Journal in numerous
articles every year over a 12 year span of time. Lutz drew a cartoon
strip for The Effingham Daily News which ran for one year in 1993-94.
On February 26, 2004,
a feature article in the "Clay County Republican" of Louisville, Illinois,
had a feature article on the portrait that Lutz did of a recently
deceased county board member. The wife of the subject said that her her husband "would be very honored
by this portrait. It is beautiful." The Decatur, Illinois
newspaper, the "Herald Review" of July 3, 2004 had a front page
feature article on Lutz and her window paintings, which change with the
seasons, and also referenced her skill at painting portraits.
Lutz has won many Best Of Show Awards, and First Place Awards in Art
Guild shows over the past 20 years, in Clay County,
Effingham
County, and Marion County, all in Illinois.
Lutz has a 24 feet by 8 feet mural on
permanent exhibit in the sanctuary of the Nazarene Church of Flora,
Illinois. A large painting hangs on permanent exhibit in in the
sanctuary of The Trinity United Methodist Church in Flora, Illinois,
and a portrait of the founder of the Clay County Hospital Medical
Clinic is on permanent display in its lobby. Joan Lutz owned an art
gallery for seven years called The Court Gallery, where she sold
numerous of her own paintings, and took commissions for her paintings
which are on display in businesses and homes throughout Southern Illinois. She has a painting hanging in
The Carnegie Library of Flora, Illinois.
Lutz has been a member of The Effingham County Fine Arts in
Architecture Board for four years, appointed by Effingham County.
Her duties are to purchase artworks by area artists of Southern Illinois for the buildings of Lake Land College
and other government buildings. She is a member of The Effingham County
Art Guild.
Lutz is a member of Worldwide Mensa, the High I.Q. Society based in New York, NY,
and a member of Intertel, The International
Legion of Intelligence, an even higher I.Q. society, also based in New York City.
Artists are extremely intelligent people, so I feel it is appropriate
to mention this.
ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Joan Lutz specializes in Portrait Art. She started painting at age
five, and trained under her father, Harold Minter, who was an artist
and one of the founders, in the 1940's, of Motorola Television
Corporation based near Chicago,
IL. She studied at The
School of The Art Institute in Chicago,
IL.
Lutz's father inspired her at the early age of 4 years, as she loved to
watch him paint and draw, and then try it herself. Drawing was always
her number one love, and playing her violin was number two. When she
started kindergarten school at age five, she was frightened and crying
on the first day, until the teacher showed her an easel and paint pots
with big brushes, in the back room, and then she broke out in a big
smile, and was excited to go to school every day.
Her family moved to San
Marino, California after her father's death
when she was just 12 years old. She lived within walking distance of
the Henry Huntington Home, Art
Gallery and
Library during her high school years, and walked there as often as
possible to study the Great Masters paintings hanging in that
collection.
Lutz married and moved to Flora,
Illinois, a very rural
farm town in Southern Illinois,
surrounded by corn fields and grazing cattle. There she raised four
children, Clark, Corinn, Julie, and Randolph.
She spent her time raising the family, cooking, and taking care of her
home, until her first husband died in 1990. After the last child left
for college in 1992, she finally had time to pursue her painting
professionally.
One of the highlights of her career so far was in 2000 when she painted
portraits of Presidential Candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore. George
W. Bush owns a lithograph of his portrait painting. Al Gore ordered six
of the lithographs of his portrait to give to his wife, Tipper, and his
staff. The paintings were made into Official Campaign 2000 Convention
buttons for both candidates and for both conventions, by an independent
company. The campaign buttons have been collected nation wide, and are
now a part of history. Jim Nicholson, George W. Bush's 2000 Campaign
Chairman said, "Joan is a very talented lady." Joan had the
privilege to meet George W. and Laura Bush, and Dick and Lynn Cheney,
because of her portrait paintings.
Lutz' goal for many years has been to paint the Official Presidential
Portrait for The White House in Washington,
D.C. She has completed
many portrait lithographs of Princess Diana, as well as portrait
lithographs of many celebrities.
She is living with her husband, Dan Lutz, in Altamont, Illinois,
a small farm town of 2500 people, where she has been a professional
artist for twelve years.
Note from the artist, November 2004:
WAND TV NEWS reporter Warren Brinegar came to
our State Farm office in Altamont,
IL on Oct. 27, 2004 to interview
and film Joan Lutz and her window paintings of President George W. Bush
and Senator John Kerry. It was a fun day, and after an hour and a half
Warren headed back to Decatur, IL to edit his film for the story to be
aired that night on the 6:00 News, part of which was shown on ABC
Nightly News with Peter Jennings, and also played on the 6:00 AM news
this morning.
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