About Me
The world of Joy is an evolving journey of art that began in Canada and has found a home in Connecticut.
I am invigorated by painting from life!
Indoors, I love to paint the comfort of familiar domestic scenes: the kitchen sink, a potted plant, the desk in the corner. I like to capture the essence of the comfort that permeates commonplace scenes and objects, reflecting our essence in our day-to-day worlds.
Outdoors, I love the sense of the elements, the weather, the wind, the features of the landscape at play with me as much as with the subjects. I hike or walk along the beach often, and the beauty and endless variety, even of the same scene, inspire me to photograph or sketch. I transfer these sensations into the landscape or seascape painting in my studio where I can feel the painting around me.
And I love to paint Life's Joys: a picnic, a window sill, garlic flowers in the garden, ripe tomatoes on the vine, skunk cabbage in the New England woods and ordinary people.
How do I start? I cover my canvas with colors that I see and feel in my surroundings. Often it's turquoise, purple or orange. I sketch my composition, directly from the subject. Occasionally I sketch from a photograph. I darken my sketch lines and then I paint in oils. Once the general composition is complete, I rarely refer back to the subject. I like my imagination to come into play with colors, designs and textures and let the creative process take over. And my painting, your painting,is born.
I hope my artbrings a smile to your face andinspires you for a long, long time.
I am invigorated by painting from life!
Indoors, I love to paint the comfort of familiar domestic scenes: the kitchen sink, a potted plant, the desk in the corner. I like to capture the essence of the comfort that permeates commonplace scenes and objects, reflecting our essence in our day-to-day worlds.
Outdoors, I love the sense of the elements, the weather, the wind, the features of the landscape at play with me as much as with the subjects. I hike or walk along the beach often, and the beauty and endless variety, even of the same scene, inspire me to photograph or sketch. I transfer these sensations into the landscape or seascape painting in my studio where I can feel the painting around me.
And I love to paint Life's Joys: a picnic, a window sill, garlic flowers in the garden, ripe tomatoes on the vine, skunk cabbage in the New England woods and ordinary people.
How do I start? I cover my canvas with colors that I see and feel in my surroundings. Often it's turquoise, purple or orange. I sketch my composition, directly from the subject. Occasionally I sketch from a photograph. I darken my sketch lines and then I paint in oils. Once the general composition is complete, I rarely refer back to the subject. I like my imagination to come into play with colors, designs and textures and let the creative process take over. And my painting, your painting,is born.
I hope my artbrings a smile to your face andinspires you for a long, long time.
About Me Painting
Joy and Nephews
At a local charity event in Langley, BC.
Joy Painting
Joe Provey, fellow BRAWGer, drew this sketch for me.
About My Art
Preservation
When I finish each piece, I finger print the bottom left corner with my left index finger. I started this practice this year. I number each painting and write on the frame the dates and location I sketched and painted it. Then I let the painting dry for six months to a year. Oil paint, especially when the medium is linseed oil, takes a long time to dry, and if the painting is varnished too early, there could be moisture problems.
Once the paint is dry, I have the painting scanned. The scanner I use is of the highest quality; there are are only a few such scanners in the United States. This particular one has been used to scan some very famous artwork, including several Van Gogh originals under high security.
Before the painting goes to its new home, I varnish it with Dammar varnish, which is removable. I really like the look of shiny oil paints against the matte acrylic that I use for outlines, so I varnish only the oil paint and let the black outlines remain matte. Not varnishing the black makes it appear darker and gives the painting more contrast. Yes, varnishing this way takes quite a bit of time, but I like the effect. I usually varnish a number of paintings at the same time, outdoors for ventilation.
Once the paint is dry, I have the painting scanned. The scanner I use is of the highest quality; there are are only a few such scanners in the United States. This particular one has been used to scan some very famous artwork, including several Van Gogh originals under high security.
Before the painting goes to its new home, I varnish it with Dammar varnish, which is removable. I really like the look of shiny oil paints against the matte acrylic that I use for outlines, so I varnish only the oil paint and let the black outlines remain matte. Not varnishing the black makes it appear darker and gives the painting more contrast. Yes, varnishing this way takes quite a bit of time, but I like the effect. I usually varnish a number of paintings at the same time, outdoors for ventilation.
