Joan Jimenez (Jo) was born in 1957 in Ingleside, California.

I have always been fascinated with glass. It started when my grandmother gave my dad a glass fish she had bought in Mexico. In the 1980s I began an obsession with collecting glass fish. The odder looking the fish, the more I adored it. I have a large collection of Murano and other styles of glass fish.

Stained glass was another love, although as a single working mom it was always out of reach. I was content looking in antiques stores and dreaming of the day I would start collecting stained glass. In 2002 I moved to Arlington, Virginia. I was surfing the internet one day and came across a local stained glass artist, Phillip McKee. I emailed him and asked if he gave private instruction. He said yes, and I immediately signed myself up for a beginner’s stained glass class. As soon as I showed up at the McKee Stained Glass Studio my hobby began. My first project was a little eight-piece sun catcher, but from there I jumped in with both feet. My next project was over 100 pieces! Family and friends enjoyed the products of my new hobby.

In 2005 I donated a panel for a fund raiser. It went up for auction; and when the hammer fell, it had raised $265. I have since donated panels to raise funds for The Mautner Project and Relay for Life.

As time went by I received numerous commissions. I had 28 years of service with a large communications firm. My belief was that I was too young to retire. I was still two years away from reaching the 30 years service required to be eligible for retirement. It seemed unlikely I would retire at that time with my daughter in college. But the thought of my next career kept popping into my head, and plans to have everything in place for the transition to my next career when I did retire. I knew that I wanted to do my art as my next career.

The time came to take the next step. In 2006 Glass Art by Jo was launched in anticipation of my next full-time career after my plan to retire no sooner than 2010.

In November 2008 my company decided to reduce the work force and offered an incentive program to encourage those eligible to retire to go ahead and do it. I put in my papers and was accepted for retirement. I officially retired from that career as of December 19, 2008.

This pushed my plan forward by two years. Now, sooner than I could have imagined, I am doing something I love every day! I work in my home-based art studio Monday through Friday. Studio hours are from 9 am to 5 pm EST, unless I am on the road traveling to art festivals.

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