Joe Oddo has been painting a wide assortment of imagery throughout his career: still life, the figure, and landscape. He started a relationship with James Weeks, working as his student at the San Francisco Art Institute in the 1960’s, and continued to be friends with his mentor throughout his life. Oddo’s early work is distinctively different from his recent work. In his early career, he would draw on the canvas and then paint; today, he paints directly on the canvas in a loose format. Much like the work of James Weeks, Oddo’s work varies from loose Bay Area figuration to a very representational style. Oddo has not been afraid to take on the tasks of painting any subject matter. In his early painting, “Looking Toward Treasure Island,” one can see that he has a clear understanding of abstraction and representation and uses them in concert to create a stellar painting.

Oddo met Lisa Esherick and Deanna Forbes in college. They were all studying with James Weeks and they pay tribute to Weeks as a teacher, who really led by example, and by his example motivated them to be artists. Oddo was considered by a group of his peers to be a leader of their group. He has taught at various colleges including the San Francisco Art Institute, Stanford University, and the University of California, Davis.