120 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM of artists. Instead, he got roped into teaching English, his college minor. “That didn’t squash the painting,” Joseph assures. “It augmented it because it allowed me to be in a world of ideas… It allowed me to have this kind of imagination that deals with He also found creative ways to tie art back into his students’ writing prompts. For one project, Joseph handed out images to his students and told them to write short stories that culminated with the pictured scene. For another, they analyzed a film and book version of the same story to find where the tales overlapped. “The kids loved it,” he smiles. In 1991, when Joseph started exhibiting his art, his students came to show their support. Since then, his work has been displayed at over a dozen galleries and exhibitions including the Pacific Art League, Voshan Fine Arts and (his latest) Gallery 9 in Los Altos as well as international shows like Art Revolution Taipei and Biennale Internazionale Dell’arte Contemporanea in Florence. Now in retirement, Joseph dives into traveling, submerging himself in the inspiration of landscapes images. Because when I read a book, I’m thinking of images.” And although Joseph didn’t log long hours in front of the canvas during his early years of academia, he still carved out short nightly sessions to paint in the garage— even if only for 15 to 20 minutes. v e nveitritauno s o ABOVE: Arcadia; English Waif (inspired by a photo of a threader by Lewis Hine). OPPOSITE: Quiet Outing, Venice; Mount Cook, New Zealand.
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