Scottish artist Joan Somerville was born in Glasgow in 1961. Somerville got her start after showing her portfolio at various galleries in Glasgow, and was soon offered an exhibition at the Nancy Smillie Gallery in the West End, in addition to other galleries around town. In her first year of exhibiting, she was recognized in the Smith Art Gallery & Museum Brave Art competition and her winning painting became part of the museum’s permanent collection. Somerville’s art also appears in collections in the United States, Europe, Hong Kong, and Singapore.