Joy Appenzeller Bauer

Joy Appenzeller Bauer is a Chicago-based artist and prominent exhibitor at Chicagoland fine art festivals and shows throughout the country. She has won several awards and has had numerous solo exhibitions. Joy's original paintings are owned by over 100 private collectors throughout the United States and Europe.

She is an avid traveler and creates cityscapes and landscapes from around the world. Joy graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995, where she refined traditional French impressionism and urban realism oil painting techniques. Although equally comfortable with figures, she now concentrates mostly on landscapes and cityscapes, capturing the character and atmosphere of each traveled location.

Although equally comfortable with figures, she now concentrates mostly on landscapes and cityscapes, capturing the character and atmosphere of each traveled location. On account of multiple marriages and a nod to French technique, Joy's art post-2003 is signed without a last name – simply "Joie" (Joy in French). Her work is on display at several galleries and juried art shows/fairs and even on TV (CBS's The Good Wife). Joy is also a member of Oil Painters of America and Plein Air Painters of Chicago.

While many of the local Illinois landscapes and some smaller cityscapes are often painted plein air in a single day (up to 5 days), Joy's realism paintings take 2 to 4 weeks to complete. Starting from a few of her reference photos, she hand-draws the entire composition to scale using drafting tools as necessary. Most paintings start out as drawings, progress to color-blocked designs, and then become painstakingly detailed from upper left to bottom right.