Born in Niskayuna, New York, Joan Lucius now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lucius received a BA in Human Development from the California State University East Bay in Hayward, California. She also received a California Teaching Credential in Art, from CSU East Bay. Lucius has taught art in the Hayward public schools since 2007 and is currently a candidate to receive a Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Visual Arts from the University of California Berkeley Extension in 2014. Her recent work in mixed media is influenced by the landscape of her childhood in the Mohawk River Valley and also the terrain of the coastal hills where she currently lives in the East Bay.