meet joanne

Joanne Neal-Berndt has always been innovative, creative, and a free thinker… all qualities that she brings to each of her paintings.

She has spent most of her adult life working in interior design, a career that came about when people saw houses she had purchased and renovated for resale – and asked her to help them with their interior design.

In more recent years, Neal-Berndt has turned her attention – and passion – to her acrylic-on-canvas wall art.

“I love this medium and this somewhat mysterious process,” she says. “As I create, there’s no preconception on my part, and colors come about because of so many variables, like temperature and what’s underneath each layer.”

As one art consultant observes, Neal-Berndt’s background is what makes her so successful as a painter.

“Her B.S. degree in Fashion Design, experience in that industry, and extensive work in interior design and renovation have all contributed to the uniqueness of her current work in fine art,” says Wolfgang Mabry of Ventana Fine Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “Her paintings succeed visually because she’s an astute designer and emotionally because her surfaces have a certain hypnotic quality capable of inducing pleasant states of serenity, tranquility, and aesthetic satisfaction in the viewer.”

Recognition for Joanne Neal-Berndt includes several one-man and group shows at various galleries and acceptance into the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York; also, her art is displayed at The Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, Florida.

Neal-Berndt is currently teaching her unique wall art method to her daughter, Avery Slechta, a psychotherapist and artist. Neal-Berndt’s husband, Peter Berndt, is also an artist – and a psychiatrist who shares a counseling practice with Slechta. On occasion, you can find all three members of the family creating art together.