Joel Fletcher developed his passion for the art of painting as a teenager in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. He painted prolifically, envisioning a career in the fine arts or possibly book illustration. However, he had another artistic obsession: stop-motion animation. For a while he pursued both art forms - experimenting, learning, and improving. A turning point came when he secured a filmmaking grant from the University of Wisconsin’s Public Broadcasting Station, WHA-TV, and spent two years of his spare time creating a 16mm film that explored various animation techniques. After that film had been televised, Joel’s career path between animation and painting became clear.
Deciding that animation was the ultimate art form, Joel moved to Los Angeles in 1985 to pursue his dreams. So began a successful 35-year career as an animator and visual effects artist, although this decision sidelined his painting aspirations. Joel’s skills grew through hands-on experience and collaboration with some of the industry’s finest directors and artists on feature films, television, and commercial projects. Career highlights included Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Disney's Dinosaur, and Peter Jackson's King Kong. Besides animating, Joel occasionally took on other artistic gigs such as sculpting, model making, and photography. Even so, he never offered his painting skills to potential clients. Painting remained his sacred fine art—intentionally preserved as a pure, personal form of creative expression.
Joel found love in Los Angeles, marrying his wife, Cheryl, in 1993 and subsequently having their daughter, Caroline. Being a family man was a wonderful part of the human experience but working long hours in the entertainment business and being a husband and father left little time for personal artist endeavors. In 2010, feeling a loss from his inactivity in the painting arena, Joel vowed to take up the brushes again in whatever spare time he had. As of 2020 he phased out of the animation business entirely, giving priority to bringing his many imaginative visions to life on canvas.