Joan Brosnahan

1924-2011

Brosnahan was a well known Northwest artist for more than 45 years.

Brosnahan was born April 5, 1924 in Vancouver, B.C. She was married at an early age and moved to Southern California, where she fell in love with the warm climate of the south. Her first marriage ended in divorce, she remarried to a young Navy fighter pilot, James Brosnahan. They were married in Meridian, Miss., where he was the Commanding Officer of VT-7, a training squadron. They later moved to Oak Harbor.

She began her love of art as a young girl with her pencil sketches and she began to develop her talents while living in San Diego. She came from a long line of talented artists including her grandfather, who was a stained glass artist in Nottingham, England. She developed a unique, unlimited style that is widely known under the signature of “Broz.” She utilized varied styles in her work and demonstrated her ability and imagination in combining traditional watercolor with a variety of mixed media.

Brosnahan had developed a mixed media technique that has rapidly become popular. Her art work appears in a number of galleries on Whidbey Island, including Garry Oak Gallery in Oak Harbor, Penn Cove Gallery in Coupeville, Cornet Bay Gallery near Deception Pass and Langley’s Whidbey Art Gallery. She also taught painting classes at Oak Harbor Senior Center. One of the later techniques she was developing was hot wax designs.

Brosnahan was a member of the NWWA, Island Art Council, Whidbey Allied Artists, Skagit Valley Art Association and Women in the Arts. She had been the recipient of awards for her work, including Regional Awards, Texaco Award, Shell Oil, Nalley Award, Jody Bergsma Award, David Painting Award, ASG Printing Award, and Poster Artist Award for the LaConner Art Show.

Brosnahan held one woman shows at the Santa Rosa Gallery, Calif., Silverdale Lodge, Wash., Stone Gallery, Whidbey, Federal Way Courthouse, Fine Art Gallery, Wash., and Knudsen Gallery, Federal Way.