JoAnn
strives to contribute Grace and beauty to this world. The English name Jo Ann
means the Grace of G-d. Every work is purposeful, intending to be richly colored,
sensual, and full of mystical symbolism. JoAnn
strives to contribute Grace and beauty to this world. The English name Jo Ann
means the Grace of G-d. Every work is purposeful, intending to be richly colored,
sensual, and full of mystical symbolism.
JoAnn Weinberg Drasnin has been drawing and painting since she was old enough to hold a crayon and a brush. Recognizing her tremendous talent, her parents provided her with art lessons at a young age, in an active studio, under the direction of artists Sidney DeBrito, a successful commercial artist, and Herb Greenberg, a local art teacher. By the age of 12, she was creating 3 x 4 foot oil paintings and selling paintings & drawings as well as commissioned works. It was then that she became enamored of Georges Seurat’s pointillism, whose influence can be seen in some of her works. Her ability to render realistically was crafted in high school under the superb guidance of Dan Van Vleet, while she exhibited & sold her work in a local gallery and frame shop. At that point, she began working on large wall murals, starting in her local high school, and completing commissions in private homes throughout South Florida.
JoAnn studied at Brandeis University and spent a year abroad at Bar Ilan University in Israel. She earned her B.A. from UCLA in English literature with a minor in Jewish studies. She dreams of combining her talents in writing and art with her overflowing love for children to write and illustrate children's literature. She has one book currently in process.
JoAnn has exhibited and sold her work in galleries in Boston, Los Angeles, Detroit and various cities in Israel. Ms. Drasnin was also commissioned to create series of ketubahs (illuminated Hebrew Marriage Contracts), while collaborating with various scribes both in Israel and all over the US from 1983 until 1994. In 1993, JoAnn Weinberg married David Drasnin and moved to Michigan, where she began dividing her time between raising her family and creating & selling her art, eventually adding her married name to her signature. In 2005, JoAnn studied chalk pastel technique with a brilliant local pastel artist, Michelle Sider, and JoAnn’s work in all mediums took on an entirely new dimension of depth, richness, and grace.