In her own words:

JO ALICE BRASWELL - ARTIST STATEMENT:

"I studied art at the School of Visual Arts in new York City and at the Modern Art School in Amsterdam, Holland (Rietveld Akademie) very briefly as my musical career took off at the same time."

"After 20 years on the road as a musician, one night I had a dream. In this dream, I was painting a tree when Salvador Dali breezed in the room and said he would help me finish this painting, and he did. this was the summer of 1990, and I've been awakened, with the help of Alex Villumson and the Artist Co-op 7 to bring dreams to life."

I was born in Manhattan, raised on Broadway, New York, where the traffic and people noise pollution made me quite an insomniac. I think had nearly lost my mind on several occasions. At 13, I tried to live with my dad, his new wife and two kids -- that was complete disaster.

Music and art have kept me somewhat more balanced. I remember a painting and drawing of my mother’s hanging on the wall next to Bruegel’s “The Wedding” reproduction. ( A 16th Century party ) which had no sentimental value to her as she never stayed married !

I left home when I was 15, lived with my 17 year old boyfriend and the Hippy dealers, and missed any kind of family life. I think my mom was happy to get rid of me, and being that she didn't like the police, or institutions, I was clearedto rear myself.

When I graduated from "Quintanos" a high school for professionals, and professional potential drop-outs like me, mom sent me off to a camp in Germany, where they taught political science and agriculture. From there I trashed my return ticket and hitch-hiked to meet up with friends in Holland, whom I had met through Bonnie Raitt.

Bonnie was a camp buddy of mine. She introduced me to some blues on guitar, and taught me how to play "Mother Earth Blues". We had spent several summers camping with a political Quaker camp which toured Russia, Poland. We saw the horror caused by Hitler and I became socially conscientious. Bonnie was so nice to me back then... now that she is famous she will have nothing to do with me. I know I have her to thank in many ways, no matter how rude she has been to me on the several occasions I have tried to just say "Hi!" to her.

Besides teaching me some guitar, she was enrolled in a Quaker College in London . . When I got kicked out of a summer camp school for smoking pot, my mom and her boyfriend were also traveling through, but did not want to have to take me along for the rest of their journey, and had no place for me to go. Bonnie and I met up in the Underground . . . . I told her my story and she invited me to stay the rest of the summer with her at the Quaker College dorm... I could sleep on the floor.. and so I did... There I met my cool Dutch friend, a Sculptor just graduating the Rietveld Art Academy in Amsterdam who welcomed me any time I wanted to visit. When I returned I was living with him and his wife, brother and sister in law near Amsterdam for 6 months.

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