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Joe Plaskett was born in New Westminster, BC in 1918. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1939 with first class honours in History, and upon completion of teachers' college at UBC, taught in private and public schools. He studied art at the Vancouver School of Art under Ustinov, Amess, Shadbolt and Binning, as well as under A.Y. Jackson at the Banff School. After several exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery in the early forties, he received friendship and encouragement from Jock MacDonald and Lawren Harris. Nominated by Lawren Harris, he won the first Emily Carr Scholarship in 1946. The award changed his life, enabling him to study, first at the California School of Fine Art in San Francisco and then with Hans Hofmann in New York and Provincetown. In 1947 Plaskett was appointed Principal of the Winnipeg Art School, succeeding L. L. Fitzgerald. Summers were spent with further studies in New York City and Provincetown under the noted abstract painter Hans Hoffman. He taught for two years, by which time the lure of Europe became irresistible.

In 1949, after visiting London , he found in Paris the ideal setting for his artistic development. He moved to Paris where he studied with, among others, Fernand Leger, Jean Lombard, and Marzelle, traveled throughout Europe, drawing, using mostly pastels which were suitable for mobility.

In 1951 he moved to London, England to study art at the Slade School with a bursary awarded by the British Arts Council. He returned to Canada for exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery and the University of British Columbia Art Gallery, as well as in Winnipeg and Toronto. In 1953 a Canada Council Overseas Scholarship assisted him to return to Paris and study etching and engraving with Stanley Hayter.

After twice returning to Canada to teach, it was in 1957 that he wasable to make Paris his home for the next half century. Since 2001, he has lived in Suffolk , England. Despite living abroad for over fifty years, he is staunchly Canadian. Almost annually he has returned to his homeland and held exhibitions across the country. A legendary host and supporter of Canadian artists working in Europe, he was considered an unofficial Ambassador in Paris .

The artist created the Joseph Plaskett Foundation in 2005, designed to support a mature Canadian student to travel and/or study art in Europe for one year. When the formation of the foundation was announced in 2005, Mr. Plaskett said, "I created this award in emulation of what Emily Carr did for me in 1946. I would like young Canadian artists to enjoy the privileges I experienced more than a half century ago. Europe and, above all, France , have left me richer in knowledge and experience. Although things have changed a great deal since I first traveled and studied abroad, the lesson of Europe andits past is always waiting for those ready to learn."

Since the 1940's, Mr. Plaskett has had over 65 solo and group exhibitions, with work in major public, private and corporate collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2001 for his excellence in the field of visual art . His autobiography A Speaking Likeness (Ronsdale Press) was published in 1999.