An artful portrait by Joel Washington

Portrait Art of Kathleen McLean by Artist Joel Washington

Bloomington, Indiana artist Joel Washington has created an artful portrait of bassoonist Kathleen McLean.

So, I walked into Laughing Planet one day and noticed Frank Zappa pictures on the wall. Colorful pop art and I was blown away. I looked at the signature on the paintings and I investigated and realized that Joel Washington lived in Bloomington.

I approached Joel because I was in the middle of making a recording and I was thinking of cover art. I asked him if he would be interested in taking a photograph and making it into an artful portrait.

We became friends quickly and he does great work! It took him over a year to finish the painting because we would always get together and talk about so much stuff! I finally received this piece last year and I am so excited to share. He’s a marvelous artist and you can see a lot of his major works & samples of his various styles at the Indiana University Memorial Building.

Visit Joel’s website at JoelWashingtonArt.com

Author: Kathleen McLean

Kathleen McLean is Yamaha Performing Artist & servers as Associate Professor of Music & chair of the Woodwind Department at the IU Jacobs School of Music. Kathleen is a sought-after chamber and orchestral musician, recitalist, and teacher.