Joe Basco is a retired airline pilot living in the north Georgia mountains near Blue Ridge, GA. He has always been an artist and is starting his second career devoted to pursuing artistic endeavors. 

Joe was born in the Bay area of northern California in 1954.  His father was in the Navy and, as a result, lived in many places across the US, finally settling in Atlantic Beach, Florida.  

From a very young age Joe was always drawing and painting.  He began his art career in high school working for a tee shirt printing company doing artwork, design, and printing.  He also drew ads and comics for the local paper, and telephone book. The summer after high school graduation in 1972, he attended the Midwestern Music and Art camp at the University of Kansas, where he was exposed to college level art and design classes.

Joe joined the Army in the summer of 1972 and, following basic training, was sent to Fort Gordon Georgia Signal school to begin training as a radio operator.  However, the Army had other plans for Joe once they discovered his artistic abilities.  While at Fort Gordon, Joe illustrated training manuals and prepared presentations.  He was recruited into the Television Department where he produced art for training films and TV shows at the Signal School (at the time one of the largest closed-circuit systems in the country).  

Joe was sent to Germany in the spring of 1974 and was assigned to the 5th PSYOP Battalion (Psychological Operations).  While there, he was tasked with developing propaganda leaflets and informational pamphlets.  He also began to work in the darkroom and really expanded his photography and darkroom skills.  He won first place in a Europe-wide photo contest in 1974.   

Upon completion of his tour, Joe returned to the states and moved to Orange, Texas.  He found a job with a printing company and worked as a printer for the next six years, while working his way through flight school. For the next 40 years he was a professional pilot for a variety of commercial airlines, finally retiring in 2019 as a Captain for United Airlines.

He enjoys painting outdoors in watercolor, pastel, and oil. He has competed in various “Plein Air Paint-Out” events in North Georgia since 2015.  Joe took first place in the quick draw event (one hour) in 2018, with his watercolor painting of Serenberry Vineyards located in Morganton, GA.  He has won numerous awards for his Artwork including Best of Show at the Southern Appalachian Artists Guild Member show in 2021 with his painting “Bell Mountain Sunset”.

He is a member of the Southern Appalachian Artist Guild, Oil Painters of America, and the Hiawassee Plein Air Group.