Jon Joanis (b. Montréal, Canada 1969) spent his formative years learning drawing and painting under the Canadian painter and illustrator Leslie Coppold (Royal Canadian Academy of Arts) while assisting in teaching high school art classes and also briefly apprenticing with Canadian painter Stanley Cosgrove. In 1988, after completing a Fine Arts and Design program near Montréal, Jon had two works selected to represent Canada for a UNESCO exhibition in Paris. Throughout, Joanis studied and performed music professionally as a jazz guitarist, eventually becoming a student of guitarist Mike Stern in New York City, and also studying guitar and composition under Roddy Ellias in Montréal. Over the years, Jon worked as an artist and designer for other artists and special effects companies in Montréal and Los Angeles, painting, sculpting and model-making as well as freelance graphic and interior designing. Jon continues to play and write music, while seriously reacquainting and reconfirming his relationship with drawing and painting.