Joanna Dole grew up on a lake in Holliston with plenty of woodsy areas to make for a child artist’s paradise. “I drew and painted from a very early age. I was always drawing something… I won many first prizes at my church annual art shows. My mother also brought art and culture to the family. She brought us to the MFA to appreciate the impressionist painters she loved, to the ballet and musical performances…she made us handmade paper dolls and did portraits of us. She introduced us to the MFA and the impressionists she loved.” Dole attended Emmanuel College and started out as a biology major. When she encountered an expansive array of art classes, she decided to switch her major, to her father’s chagrin, and attained a Bachelor’s Degree in Art and Education. During college, she spent a semester studying Italian and fine art in Rome, Italy. “It was wonderful: we traveled in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, England and France as well as the Greek islands. I developed a love of cooking while there as well as a love of Italy. I have traveled back there many times.”
After graduating, Dole took on the challenging work of a high school art teacher in the Boston City schools of Charlestown and Dorchester. While teaching, she took classes at Mass College of Art and Design where she received a Master’s Degree in both Art and Education. Teachers and mentors that have been important to her work are watercolorist of Maine, Paul George, Winslow Homer, Newton’s Wendy Artin, Anne Blair Brown of Nashville and Roberto Zangarelli of Rome, Italy. She also emulates the works of Sargent and Homer.
While teaching and raising her three children in Wellesley, Dole continued pursuing her passion for art and joined the WSA during that time. As her family grew, so did her creative career. Through her decorative painting business, she completed custom furniture and wall finishes, murals, frames, textured surfaces, and Trompe-l’oeil work for homes and businesses throughout the area. Her projects included murals for the former Wellesley Inn restaurant, private residences, commercial spaces, and decorator showhouses. That work naturally evolved into a successful interior design career spanning more than twenty years, leading to the creation of her business, Art and Design Solutions, featured on Houzz.