Township Library Exhibits Local Artist’s Work

Township resident and artist Joyce Levine has 16 pieces on display at the throughout the month of March. She has displayed her own work there numerous times and recently took on an organizational role at the library as well.

“I’ve been helping the gal that was doing the job get artists and she left and they called me and asked me to help book the artists and organize everything,” Levine said.

She has been painting and drawing since she was a child, and said she got serious doing portrait work early on. Levine has been painting for more than 40 years.

“I never wanted to be anything else,” she said. “I always kind of knew I wanted to be in the art field.”

Although she is a traditional artist, painting portraits and landscapes in oil, watercolor and pastel, her interests extend far beyond that of a brush.

“I also like to collage and for a while I was making jewelry in silver,” Levine said. “My favorite is just whatever I’m working on in the moment.”

As a member of the Ridgewood Camera Club, Levine submits digital photographs into competitions as well.

“I’m big on going out and taking different pictures of flowers or animals. I love the zoo,” she said.

Levine planned to put two of her photographs on display at the library, along with her oils, watercolors, pastels and collages.

Although she is not politically active in the Ridgewood Camera Club, Levine has responsibilities at the Pascack Art Association. She has been a member of PAA since about 1964 and runs the outdoor art show in Hillsdale. Levine is also a long-standing member of the American Artist Professional League and said she likes to submit paintings to its annual show.

When she is not participating in competitions herself, Levine is teaching painting skills to a 99-year-old woman at the Jewish Home Assisted Living in River Vale. She has been mentoring there for three years. Levine said her student just held her third exhibit at the home.