December 30, 2004

Artist makes the move

By Bill Choy
Ashland Daily Tidings

Seeking a small town ambiance and inspiration for her watercolors, Joan Franklin moved to Ashland from Philadelphia in October.

Franklin said she and her partner of 10 years, David Winston, a photographer, believed Ashland was exactly what they were looking for when she visited the town last year, looking to escape the hustle-and-bustle of Philadelphia.

"I felt it had all the ingredients we were looking for," she said. "It's a simpler lifestyle and an arts community. Being here has confirmed what I first felt, especially the people part with everyone's warmth and friendliness. It has exceeded my expectations."

Since moving here, Franklin has focused her attention on her watercolor paintings and her business, Great Space, which helps people get organized in their homes and become free of clutter.

The beauty of the area has inspired her watercolors like never before, Franklin said.

Recently, she painted the Japanese Gardens at Lithia Park, focusing on the shapes, colors and values she saw.

"I love to see the abstract in the forms of nature and take off on it," she said. "It's more about my feelings of what I'm seeing. ...

"It's a way to express my feelings from my gut. It's a way to get into a non-thinking space and go to a deep soul place. It feels like it's more of the real me."

Franklin said she has also been inspired by the welcoming arts community she has met and has become aquatinted with several people at weekly meetings.

Already, she and her partner have had an art show during a recent First Friday, and are working to create studio space in their home.

Since she was 19 and took a painting course in college, Franklin said art and painting have been a part of her life, even while she had a busy career in New York City.

For many years, she was an editor for the television news show "20/20" and an assistant music editor on films such as "The Pelican Brief," and "Presumed Innocent."

For more information on Franklin's watercolors, call her at 482-7266.