By Chris MacDonald
Longtime Seal Beach resident, JoAnn Rossi, paints beautiful watercolor artwork that resonates with others, drawing from her 91 years of inspired living. Originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, her life in Seal Beach is surrounded with material for her artistic inspiration. In addition to picture-perfect nature the local area offers, JoAnn’s outlook is heavily influenced by her happiness of family and friends that surround her. She’s been married to Mario for 67 years, has three children, including daughter Lyn Semeta (who was former mayor of Huntington Beach), 12 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.
Spending most of her life helping others, in 1997 Rossi retired as an occupational therapist and began taking water color classes. It became her favorite medium. One of her proudest accomplishments was having her artwork accepted and displayed in an international exhibit in 2022.
In addition to painting she leads architectural tours of the landmark Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove where she’s a docent. JoAnn is also active in St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Seal Beach where she started a ministry to support a needy school in Santa Ana.
“It’s a joy for students and parishoners of our local community to be involved in this ongoing project,” she said. “it’s good to help others in our daily lives.”
At Better Lives Art Gallery where participating artists are assigned shifts to greet the public, JoAnn said she’s honored to meet guests and share their goals. The gallery’s name reflects its focus to make lives better – a portion of profits from art sales benefits disadvantaged families in rural areas of Cambodia, Uganda, Tanzania and the Philippines. JoAnn Rossi invites the public to come by the gallery and meet her (every other Thursday) or other talented artists who enjoy interfacing with the public on Main Street in Old Town Seal Beach.
Rossi’s daughter, Lyn Semeta, influenced by her mother’s passion for painting, also joined the gallery and donates time there. “When we were children she painted Disney character themed murals in our bedrooms,” said Semeta. “My sister Mara and I admired her creativity from the amazing jewelry she crafted from silver to her beautiful watercolor paintings.”
Semeta said she followed in her mother’s footsteps and began taking classes and workshops with her. “I treasure the time we have spent together painting, entering art shows and serving on art boards. We even put on a mother/daughter art show at the Huntington Beach Central Library.” Semeta said that in so many aspects of her life, her mother is her inspiration and role model.
Sunset Beach artist and former art teacher Bill Anderson said: “JoAnn Rossi is a creative artist. I hope that young people see her work and be influenced as well.” Art equals creativity and skill, not just skill, according to Anderson.
You can contact JoAnn at: jthereserossi@gmail.com