Joyce LaMotte Hart died peacefully in her 100th year on Jan. 16. She was born Mary Joyce Hedge on Jan. 29, 1923, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Faye Hubbard Hedge and Ira Cecil Hedge.

Joyce leaves her daughters, Nancy (Bud) Beccia of Branford, Valerie LaMotte of Newington, and Amy (Mark) Kugelman of Fort Collins, Colorado; her grandsons, Steven Beccia, John, Daniel and Jeremy Bates, and Nicholas and Matthew Coulson; and her great-grandchildren, Roman Beccia, Emmeline Bates, and Sydney, Henrietta, and Corbin Coulson. She was predeceased by her parents; her brother William Hedge; her husbands, and many friends.

Well-known as an artist, Joyce trained in Indiana at John Herron Art Institute and Ball State University, where she met her husband, Lowell LaMotte. After World War II, the couple moved to Branford, where they raised their daughters, usually with a beloved German shepherd dog as part of the family. In her spare time, Joyce developed her own impressionistic painting style and then pursued her artistic career full-time, painting first with oils and then with acrylics. She exhibited her landscape paintings in art shows throughout Connecticut.

Having moved to Stockton, California, and then to Loveland, Colorado, with her second husband, Stan Vlantes, Joyce continued her artwork, capturing mountain scenes there and throughout the West. She traveled widely from Alaska to the Cape of Good Hope and through western Europe. Those visual experiences made their way into her paintings, revealing her love of nature and color. Over more than 20 years her artwork garnered more than 50 awards and 11 one-person shows in galleries located in New York, Boston, and Guilford. Scores of Joyce LaMotte pieces are held in private and corporate collections and many adorn the homes of her daughters and grandchildren.

Joyce enjoyed retirement in Titusville, Florida, where she met and married her third husband, Joseph Hart. In Florida, she was an active bridge player and Red Hat Society member. After the death of her husband, she returned to Connecticut, making her home in Solstice of Guilford, where she enjoyed playing games and visiting with family and friends.

Her daughters would like to thank both Homewatch Caregivers and Compassus Hospice for their care and support in Joyce’s final months. Funeral arrangements were private. Please see her obituary at www.wsclancy.com.