Joseph Sweeney bills himself as "landscape painter." He lives in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and travels in a fully-equiped "Art Studio on Wheels", a full size van, ready to produce a masterpiece whenever an interesting location presents itself.

Joe graduated in 1976 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from the Philadelphia College Of Art (now the University of the Arts). During that period, he studied with and was influenced by: Isa Barnett, Sandy Ceaser, David Kettner, Boris Putterman, Gerry Herdman, Jack Andrews, Ray Spiller, Morris Schulman, Warren Rorher, David Fertig, Jane Piper, Sidney Goodman, and Lily Yeh. Then, in 1980, he attained a Masters Degree from Penn State University, in Art & Architecture, and studied with Bruce Shobaken, Diane Pepe and Peter Jogo.

He has taught or is currently teaching classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, The University of the Arts, Wayne Art Center, Woodmere Art Museum, Cabrini College and Chester Springs Studio.

He was awarded Best of Show at 'Images '98' Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts July 1998 and Best of Show for The Philadelphia Water Color Club 98th Anniversary International exhibition of Works on Paper. Here is an excerpt from the "Review of the Philadelphia Watercolor Club Works on Paper Show" in The New York Times, Sunday, October 18 1998 Fred B. Adelson:

The award for best of show was given to a truly exquisite pastel, "Jack's Mountain," by Joseph Sweeney. This picture of farmland in central Pennsylvania is a panoramic view (more than four feet wide) capturing the natural effect of early-morning light. Mr. Sweeney's carefully observed cloud-filled sky recalls those by [John] Constable in his 19th-century English landscapes. The richly colored strokes of greens and blues with subtle touches of yellow appear as smooth as Bassett's ice cream."

Joe has shown his art with Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia since 1980. He has exhibited at other regional galleries from New York to D.C. to Minneapolis. His works are owned by many public and private institutions, private collections, and museums. For more, see Joe's online resume at his website, http://joesweeneyart.com/resume.htm.

Particularly noteworthy is this excerpt from The Professional Institute for Educators (PIE) magazine, Summer 2005 edition:

What Sweeney himself paints is a world that looks pretty much like it used to, where air and skies and rivers were clean and where nature was unendangered. "The experienced observer," Sweeney says, "can determine the health of a place and its people by looking at the condition of the land they inhabit. It's with these things in mind that I approach a landscape."

Read the whole article, entitled "Sweeney's Nature" at: http://joesweeneyart.com/SN.htm.

Joseph Sweeney's Macintosh experiences are probably similar to yours. He bought his very first Mac, an SE/30, used, for $500 from someone who went over to the dark side and bought an IBM because "they had more programs." Joe was convinced the Mac was the way to go after hearing from a friend named Glenn Gauvry about its ability to store and retrieve large amounts of information quickly, so he had to have one to catalog and track over 400 paintings. He has also owned other Mac models: a Beige 630 and a Blue and White G3. Today he proudly drives a PowerBook G4 running OS 10.2.8, complemented by a Plus Firelite 20 GB external hard drive, and another 120 GB hard drive from McMobile for backup.

Joe first heard about MLMUG from the old Apple Store in Bryn Mawr and came to his first meeting in September 1999. He joined MLMUG in October 1999, and has actively attended ever since.

— Joe Sweeney
(with editorial tweaks by Moe Comeau)