When I first saw Joy Olney’s paintings, I was impressed with the glorious light that infused each canvas. It sparkled on water. It shone on an athlete’s face. It escaped from behind a wall. It shimmered on a sandcastle. Many of her paintings are spare–just a face, or sometimes NOT even a face just a figure leaning to peek behind a rectangle of luscious blues and purples.
It was an honor to talk with Joy about her work. Here are portions of our conversation.
Segullah: Your paintings are animated by light and a quiet capture of individual moments. Were there artists whose work particularly influenced your approach to painting?
Joy: John Singer Sargent would be top on my list. Most impressionist artists. I love The Cape School artists. I love the color and light in their paintings.
Segullah: Did you grow up in an environment that nourished your love of the arts?
Joy: My parents took me to the Philadelphia Art Museum and the Barnes Foundation as well as the Rodin Museum. There were two very talented and well-known women artists in my neighborhood. They showed me that it was possible to be a wife, mother and full-time artist. I’m grateful for them.
I was fortunate to have parents that were so supportive and encouraging of my drawing and painting. Growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs gave me fine arts schools and art teachers. A nearby art center gave summer teen classes in all the arts. I formed friendships there. My sculpture teacher later gave me recommendations to the Tyler School of Art and Architecture [at Temple University] and the Philadelphia College of Art for Saturday teen oil and sculpture classes.
I was enrolled in a Saturday drawing class at age 13. The teacher was wonderful. He taught us in the Nicolaides Method: “The Natural Way to Draw”. He called my parents to see if I could join his adult class.
Segullah: That’s impressive!
Joy: At 16 I took a summer adult drawing class at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. The instructor gave me an A+ and wanted me to join his winter Wednesday night adult oil painting class.
So, I had an excellent portfolio of artwork to present to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. I attended that art school for five years. I benefited from great instruction and developed habits of daily painting that help me today.
Segullah: And after art school?
Joy: After art school I ran an art center in New Jersey as director and artist-in-residence. There I taught painting and drawing as well as running the center. I didn’t have much time to paint!
I moved back to Philadelphia after a year to teach and have more time to paint. I showed my art in the Philadelphia area, won prizes and was in the Harrisburg Museum as a Pennsylvanian artist for the bicentennial celebration of 1976.
Segullah: Tell us some about your family life now.
Joy: I met and married my husband after knowing him for two months. He was such a brilliant, delightful and kind man. He too was so supportive of my painting. I wanted to teach, but he said “just paint.”
We lived in New Jersey for nine years, across from Manhattan, while my husband worked and got his MBA and PhD at Columbia University. We had two little boys and wanted to live in a healthy, beautiful place. My husband wanted to walk to work, and I wanted a room where I could paint.
We moved to Bellingham, Washington, where my husband taught marketing at Western Washington University for 30 years. Two weeks after his retirement he died paragliding. A sport that he loved doing. We were married 39 years.
Segullah: I’m so sorry for your loss.
Joy: I find that painting everyday keeps me happy. Art has a way of making life a brighter place.
My sons are grown men. They have my husband’s brilliance and my artistic talents. One has his master’s degree and was asked to write journal papers and is working on a novel. The other son has two master’s degrees in architecture and is getting his PhD in Architecture, and will be a professor like his dad.
Segullah: You must be very proud of them! Can you share some of your experiences from your time in New Jersey?
Joy: I painted scenery for a local children theater while in New Jersey. I did that for almost nine years. I was limited to just a few colors of house paint cans, so I became good at mixing the colors that I needed for the scenery. The stage and auditorium were very large, so I had to paint big and loose with direct brush strokes.
While living in New Jersey I worked with Women in the Arts, a Manhattan group that organized women’s art shows. It was exciting and rewarding to be a part of them and to meet famous women artists.
Segullah: Making contacts must be very valuable for you as an artist.
Joy: I was fortunate to meet the dean [of the arts colleges] at a local art opening at Western Washington University here in Bellingham. He let me audit his classes for several years. Once he approached me and said that if I were one of his students he would give me an A+, and then told me that he never gives an A+. So that made me happy.
I joined a local drawing figure/portrait group and stayed with that group up until the pandemic. I’ve joined other figure and painting groups here in Bellingham. We shared the cost of the models as well as the cost of the [meeting] space.
Segullah: How did moving to the Northwest impact your art?
Joy: I was trained to paint and draw people and love doing that. After moving to Bellingham and seeing the natural beauty of this land, I wanted to start painting landscapes, plein-air. I started by venturing out on my own with a portable easel and backpack of paints and brushes. Being on my own was fun. Soon I found other artists doing the same and I joined some local plein-air groups and showed the paintings in local galleries.
There was a professional women painter’s group in Seattle that encouraged me to apply to their organization. So, I entered more shows and won prizes [through them]. There was also a local county studio tour that I was a part of for a number of years.
During the pandemic I started to paint still life and flower paintings since my models weren’t available to paint.
Segullah: What are good ways to get the public to see your work?
Joy: On two weekends in October we opened up our studios to the public and showed in local galleries and museums at the same time. It was fun to get the reactions of people seeing my studio and my art and selling from my home.
I painted in our breakfast room for a long time as my boys were growing up. It was easy to juggle meals, phone calls and cleaning and so on from the house while painting. Then one day my husband handed me a gift. He said here is some money, build your studio. It is a two-story carriage house that I built working with local builders. The plans were in my head for years. The studio that I am in now was a gift from my husband.
Segullah: Wow! A dream come true! Can you share some experiences of when you have done artwork for church functions?
Joy: At the request of the primary president in our ward I painted a large painting of a loving happy Jesus with the children. That painting later found a home. Another time I received a phone call on a Tuesday asking me to make a painting of a “Women at the Well” for the Relief Society stake meeting. They needed it by Friday. I saw the painting in my mind as we talked on the phone.
The next day, I saw a friend who fit my vision. After handing her a large clay flowerpot I took a photo of her and painted the painting in oils. The painting was loved and used one other time, but I don’t know where it is now. Another church member asked me to paint a very large painting of Jesus feeding the multitudes. Jesus had to look loving and happy. The family I painted it for loved it.
Segullah: I worry sometimes that non-artists take the talents of their artist friends for granted–or at least for free. You have a generous attitude. Can you share some of your experiences as a professional artist?
Joy: I didn’t join the church until I was 35 years old. Most of the people in my ward and in my neighborhood don’t know that I’m an artist. If they see my art on Facebook or have come to my studio during our local studio tour then they know that I paint pretty, happy paintings.
I don’t paint for a particular audience. If I am asked to do a commissioned painting, then yes. When I apply to a juried show, it is a good idea to know how the juror paints, and if they will like your style. But I don’t paint to suit the juror. Once I was commissioned to do 18 bottle labels for a Dutch company so I painted how and what they wanted. I was paid very well.
Most of the money I made before I married was from teaching and commissioned portraits. The money from awards wasn’t that much and there wasn’t a guarantee that your painting would show. Back then you didn’t have to pay to be in a juried show as you do now.
My husband, with a PhD in Marketing and 30 years of teaching, advised me regarding pricing my work—to have high prices on my paintings. He said most people don’t know about art, so they will value artwork by how it’s priced. I didn’t follow his advice. I looked at the art selling in local galleries and priced my work to match other artwork that resembled my skill and subject.
Segullah: Sounds like a successful strategy!
Joy: I think people will respect, love and value my art if they pay something for it. Gallery owners will tell you to price by the square inch. So, a smaller painting is priced less than a larger one. If you’re working with a gallery owner, they should act as your agent. They should look out for you, promote your work. This is for their benefit as well as yours.
Segullah: Do you have advice for budding artists and students?
Joy: Keep painting and drawing always. Make it a habit. Find the best teachers to inspire you and encourage you to be YOUR best. Join art groups and get involved in the art community where you live. Apply to juried art shows. Put your artwork on the internet. Have a website, Instagram, Facebook, Daily Paintworks, etc.
Do you paint your art to sell or just to express yourself? For me it is mostly to express myself. It is a great feeling to sell, but I need to paint every day. It is as much a need for me as food and sleep. That is how I feel.
Segullah: What a gift!
Joy: Because I have joy while painting it must come through my work. People always tell me that my artwork makes them happy, brings them joy. One lady looked at one of my paintings and started to cry. She told me that it was too beautiful.
For me painting and drawing is not work. It’s pure joy and as easy as breathing for me. It flows out of me. I never lack inspiration. I see it all around me.
Segullah: Thank you so much, Joy, for sharing your images and perspectives with us!
