Joan Klotz

Student

“It’s wonderful to be at SMC! I’m going through everything it has in the Art Department. It’s like a huge, beautiful fruit salad.”

The “road not taken” has a way of wending its way back into your life—sometimes when you least expect it. So it was for Joan Klotz when she retired as a research scientist at UCLA. “I was involved with molecular biology and immunology,” says Joan. “And one day I was just driving past the college and thought, ‘I’ve always wanted to do something in the Arts. Why not just register and give it a try?’” That was three years ago and—in that time—art has nearly become a second career for Joan. “

Art is so totally different from all that I’ve done before, but it feels so completely fulfilling; almost like I should have been doing this all along,” she says. “I’ve had great teachers who are competent, good at their jobs, and accomplished artists, as well. I’ve taken Ceramics with both Mr. Tomkinson and Mr. McColl,” Joan says of her current muse, “and they’ve both helped me tremendously. Each has a different way of looking at things, and I find that this helps to keep my perspective fresh and alive. And since I decorate my creations,” she adds, “I just naturally have to take Figure Drawing, Design, Watercolor, and, and, and…”

Joan’s immersion in the world of Art is in no way a dilettantish effort to fill the hours of retirement. She is a dedicated student who takes her new ‘position’ seriously. “I work as a volunteer lab assistant in some of my classes, where I mix up the glazes, load the kilns, and fire them,” she says. “I have my own wheel and kiln at home, so I could work there. But I just love the energy and innovation of all the young people here,” she says. “And I think that this college offers so much to people in the creative fields. But with the dedication I’ve witnessed amongst the teachers here,” she adds, “I would say that this college is a great place for anyone to start off a career in.”

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