Featured Artist Becky Joy

Becky Joy’s gorgeous plein air paintings of landscapes and everyday scenes exude contrasting values, bright, dynamic colors, and dramatic lighting. Visit her website to see more art.

 

 

The first reaction that I hear from people about my paintings is about the glowing light and the colors in them. My use of light and color I have learned through years of plein air painting. Nature is a great teacher.

 

 

Twenty years ago I moved from the green of Oregon to the desert of Arizona. The subtle grays of the desert taught me to look for small nuances in color temperature and changes.

 

 

Eventually, I looked to the skies for more color in the Southwest’s beautiful sunsets. I spent a lot of hours watching the changes in the sky and recording those colors on canvas. Now, much of my work is focused on sunsets – an endless colorful subject.

 

 

Last summer I spent two and a half months traveling and painting in Europe. I started by teaching a workshop in Italy. I then continued my painting journey through Italy, France and Ireland, ending at the Plein Air Invitational in Wexford, Ireland. The markets, buildings and people have added more color and certainly a different subject matter to my paintings.

 

 

My education in art has been self directed with books and many instructors from across the US. I have been fortunate to live in Scottsdale, AZ, where many artists teach at the Scottsdale Artists School.

 

 

I have also traveled to several artists to take workshops from them. Each artist I have studied with has been for a purpose, something that I wanted to learn from that particular artist. When I wanted to simplify my work, I looked for an artist whose work I admired in design and simplicity. I learned more about color from a colorist. Principles in design were taught in a composition workshop. But, my most important teachers have been simply painting from life, many hours of painting, and experimentation.

 

 

I continue to experiment with my work. Lately, that experimentation has been taking me in the direction of more texture in my painting and loosening up my style a bit. This has been a conscious decision on my part, as I have always been drawn to Russian Impressionist work with the bold strokes of paint, rich color and wonderful light.

 

 

I have participated in many national and invitational shows including Art in the Open in Ireland and have garnered several awards for my work. My work has been featured in national art publications and books. In 2013 I was a faculty member at the National Plein Air Convention in Monterrey, CA, sponsored by Plein Air Magazine.

 

 

Becky Joy invites you to follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Google and Painting Workshops Online.

 

 

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