Joanne Makin is a contemporary painter based in the West Midlands.
After graduating with a BA Hons Fine Art, followed by an MA Narrative Illustration Brighton in
1993, Joanne went on to pursue a career in freelance illustration for companies including
KMPG, Pedigree and the BBC. 

Joanne now works solely as an oil painter from her studio in Stratford upon Avon. She is a
frequent exhibitor at The Mall Galleries, London, with The Society of Women Artists and ING
The Discerning Eye. She is also a regular contributor to exhibitions at the RBSA, Birmingham.
Drawing on her experience as a narrative illustrator, Joanne focusses on both static and
dynamic scenes using oil paint on canvas as her chosen medium. Her work captures a
snapshot of life in media res. The emphasis is on the human condition, whether it’s depicting
a sense of highly charged self-consciousness or calm stoicism in everyday life.
Conveying the various and often incongruous complexities of our shared human
characteristics with a quiet sensitivity, Joanne initiates a connection with the viewer of a
shared emotion past or present.

“I go on with my work according to my conscience, endeavouring to express what I feel and
what I love, and I have no other goal” Edouard Vuillard 1890

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Recent Exhibitions

ING The Discerning Eye 2025, Mall Galleries, London
Warwickshire Open Studios 2025
Society of Women Artists Annual Open Exhibition 2025, Mall Galleries, London
RBSA Summer Show 2025, Birmingham
ING The Discerning Eye 2024, Mall Galleries, London
Broadway Arts Festival 2024 - Exhibition Finalist
RBSA Prize 2024, Birmingham
RBSA Summer Show 2024, Birmingham

Warwickshire Open Studios 2024
Society of Women Artists Annual Open Exhibition 2024, Mall Galleries, London
RBSA Portrait Prize 2024, Birmingham
Broadway Arts Festival 2023 - Exhibition Finalist
Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition 2023, Mall Galleries, London
RBSA Summer Show 2023, Birmingham
Warwickshire Open Studios 2023
Society of Women Artists Annual Open Exhibition 2023, Mall Galleries, London
Coventry Open 2023, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum
Broadway Arts Festival 2022 - Exhibition Finalist
Stratford Art Society Annual Show 2022
Warwickshire Open Studios 2022
Warwickshire Open Studios 2021
Stratford Art Society Annual Exhibition 2021
Society of Women Artists Annual Open Exhibition 2020, Mall Galleries, London
Coventry Open 2020, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum