About
Marie Joy
I’ve never been very good at leaving an idea alone. One thought tends to lead to another, and before I know it, I’m experimenting with colour, paint, watercolour, digital imagery or whatever happens to be calling me that day.
My work is a place where imagination, nature, femininity and curiosity meet. I like the unexpected moments that happen during the creative process, when an idea begins to change into something I hadn’t planned.
For me, making art is about exploring that space between what I imagine and what eventually appears on the canvas. Sometimes it works, sometimes it really doesn’t, but there’s always another “what if?” waiting around the corner..
I enjoy the journey of using different methods to express and tell a story this way. By using
Watercolour • Painting • Drawing • Mixed Media • Exploring Materials
Education
BA, Design Crafts Swansea University Wales Trinity Saint David
June 2005
Exhibitions
University Swansea UWTSD
I’m Marie, and I’m from Wales. I’ve been making art for many years, although my relationship with it has changed and grown along the way. For me, making has never been about simply producing a finished picture. I enjoy the whole process of beginning with an idea, picking up a brush and seeing what happens next. I’m drawn to colour, faces, flowers, nature and anything that catches my imagination. I work with watercolour, painting, drawing and mixed media, and I like moving between different ways of making. I don't particularly want to be told that I have to choose just one. Sometimes I know exactly what I want to create; other times I start with a vague idea and let the painting lead me somewhere else. My process can be quite intuitive. I experiment with colour, marks and materials and allow things to change as I work. Sometimes a painting comes together easily, and sometimes it has other ideas entirely. I’ve learned to enjoy that part of making too. There is something exciting about not always knowing what is going to happen. What keeps bringing me back to the studio is curiosity. I might finish one piece and immediately wonder what would happen if I tried it differently next time. Painting gives me somewhere to slow down, concentrate and lose myself in the process for a while. For me, painting is about more than creating something that looks a certain way. It is about exploring an idea, following a feeling, experimenting and enjoying the simple pleasure of making something that didn't exist before. I think that is why I keep coming back to it. There is always another colour to try, another idea to follow and, occasionally, a happy accident waiting to happen..
Artist Statement
My practice is rooted in curiosity, experimentation and the pleasure of making. I work across watercolour, painting, drawing and mixed media, allowing the choice of material to change according to the idea I am exploring. I am interested in what can happen when I begin without knowing exactly where the work will end.
Colour, the human figure, nature and imagination repeatedly find their way into my work. I am drawn to the expressive qualities of colour and mark, and to the small details that can give an image a sense of character or emotion. Rather than trying to make everything perfectly controlled, I enjoy allowing the materials to contribute to the outcome.
My process is often intuitive. I layer, alter, experiment and respond to what is happening in front of me. A painting can change direction several times before it feels resolved, and sometimes an unexpected mark or colour becomes the starting point for something new. This sense of discovery is an important part of my practice.
At the heart of my work is a desire to keep exploring. I am interested in the space between intention and accident, between what I set out to make and what emerges through the process. Painting gives me a way to explore ideas visually while continuing to learn, question and surprise myself.