More about Joy

I grew up in Massachusetts, where the forests, coastlines, and ever-changing skies of New England shaped my earliest sense of place and home. Those landscapes are burned into my soul and still live on in my work today. Spending the last decade and a half in Mississippi, however, has expanded my sense of place, opening my practice into a more fluid, abstract language that continues to stretch what “home” can mean.

My creative process begins with observation. Some of my most formative years were spent wandering New England with my sketchbook and Holbein watercolor set, feeling compelled to record everything I saw.

That wealth of visual memory and the habit of noticing the world around me still deeply informs my work.

In the studio, I aim for looseness and energy, allowing marks and layers to reveal the painting that wants to emerge. Working in acrylic and mixed media, I build surfaces through expressive lines and gestural marks that convey movement and emotion. The process is immersive and full of discovery.

My hope is that my paintings carry some of that same energy outward. That they draw people in to look closely, linger a little longer, and get lost in the dance of lines and the conversation of colors.