Jo-Anne Yelen: Born in 1959 in South Africa. In 1976, having finally decided that they could no longer manage in a system that included apartheid and with no sign of change evident they made the decision to leave South Africa and return to the home of their ancestors, Ireland. Settling in Sneem they built a studio where the family passion for the arts could be pursued. Jo-Anne is in many collections, including Ford USA, and the great collection of the Su Luvenstine family. Having just emigrated from a tropical paradise my entire family were in a state of climatic shock and began suffering somewhat from depression. I therefore took a conscious decision that any painting I produced must, as part of its purpose, uplift the viewer and evoke a positive response from the pysche, no matter how depressed. I have always held true to this fundamental.