Joshua Levin
Artist Bio
I was born in Poughkeepsie, NY. I went to The Poughkeepsie Day School, The Millbrook School, Brandeis University, The School of Dental Medicine at The University of Pennsylvania, and NY University School of Orthodontics. I Practiced on The Upper West Side of NY. Upon moving to California, I became a writer on award shows, a writer, a producer of events, and a home flipper. I come from an artistic family. My mother was a member of the Barrett House in Poughkeepsie, NY, and a member of The Summer Group in the Hudson Valley. My Dad was an Orthodontist and a Viola player. In the late 1990s, I began my adult art journey at The Beverly Hills Adult Education Center, where I studied figure sculpting. My background in Dentistry led me to 3-dimensional art form. From there, I moved on to The Brentwood Art Center in Santa Monica. Upon moving to the Coachella Valley, I studied at Jayne Behman’s Art Center. This is where I expanded from figure sculpting to watercolor. My watercolors were mostly inspired by high-fashion photographs of celebrities and models. This is where my love of bold, bright, joyous colors was born. I moved to NYC for 4 years and studied at The 92nd Street Y. When I returned to the Coachella Valley, I took one class with celebrated mosaic artist Jennifer Johnson. There, I created a unique style in just my first piece. I added a relief style dimension to my mosaics, which is rarely seen in the medium. My pieces are raised with dimension and movement created by adding depth and contrast. During the pandemic, I switched from glass to paper art. I have excelled in the paper and mixed media. The Paper art is done either in 2 dimensions or 3. Some of the works are raised off the surface and are then box-framed. I have been awarded ribbons for my work at The Off Track Gallery in Encinitas and the Carlsbad Oceanside Art League in Carlsbad Village. My work has also been featured at The Escondido Arts Partnership, Art on 30th Street, and currently I have a piece at The Visions Museum of Textile Art at Liberty Station. But then I evolved into yet another medium. I do Decoupage and Acrylic on canvas pieces now. This combines the use of Acrylic paints with collage, creating a mixed media with dimension. My works in this medium have been shown at the San Diego County Fair Fine Arts Show, Off Track Gallery, Art on 30th Street, The Vi at La Jolla Village Art Gallery, and have been featured in art publications. In addition to my love of creating for myself, I teach many crafting and art classes. They include: Holiday Craft projects, Paper Collage Classes, Gourd Painting, Handbag Design, Hand Painted Glass, Stenciling, Paper Flower Classes, Stained glass on glass design, Decoupage on glass and papier mache, and Acrylic and Decoupage classes.