Joan Fischer is a Maine artist whose vibrant paintings and sculptures transform color into a language of joy, imagination, and renewal. A former attorney, city councilman, and police commissioner, Joan Fischer came to full-time artmaking after retirement — bringing the same precision and conviction she applied to law into a practice driven entirely by instinct and delight.
Working across acrylic, watercolor, oil pastel, ink, and mixed media on canvas, paper, wood, and yupo, she creates works that pulse with energy and invite viewers into a shared experience of play. Represented by Portland Art Gallery, Joan Fischer's boldly colored fish, abstract compositions, and large-scale sculptures reflect a creative life built on curiosity and the refusal to follow rules that were never meant for her.
What does it look like when a lifelong lawyer finally gives the artist inside her full permission to lead?