This is my mom. She passed away March 6 at 11:30pm. There is no greater thing we can do in this life than to love and be loved. Sounds easy enough, but there are so many competing interests. Our careers and access to this global world take us travelling and we often move far away from our family. Since I was a little girl I loved to travel and I was always finding ways to leave home for a while. The last couple of years I spent living in the same city as my family and I spent a lot of time with my mom. I was able to spend each day and hour with her at the end of her life. It was such a gift for me to help her, to provide what comfort I could and to just be with her while she travelled her final journey. Peace resides in my heart and I imagine her running and playing with a dozen dogs in a big dog park in the sky; finally without the hinderance of her body, which caused her so much pain.

How are you affected by the death of a loved one? How about separation or divorce? How about losing a job? These are all things that have landed on my plate over the last year. I have felt a whole array of emotions through all these changes and some of them are sorrow, anger, frustration, uncertainty and confusion.

But honestly, I need to confess something to you.

​Overall, I feel such lightness and joy. I feel grateful to be alive to be healthy, to have people in my life who care for me and very grateful for my curiosity and desire to create art. My curiosity and desire to create has grown stronger this year and maybe it is because so many other things have fallen away. Maybe because change is a sharpener of our senses and we see things with more clarity or at least from a different angle. Maybe because creating art provides me with such comfort. I suppose it is all true.

Today I am stronger painter. I feel it when I move the paint around my canvas. I feel a certain stillness when I work. I can see tone and composition a little better. I’m excited to create new work and to share it with the world. I hope my words and my work can somehow bring you some joy and some inspiration in your life. I also send my love, condolences or congratulations to any of you who have also experienced world altering changes in your life over the last year.

Saturday 12 - 5pm. &  Sunday 1 - 5pm  Oct 24-25, 2020
​Cost: $195 - includes most supplies.
Yes!! Our second Cityscape workshop. The first one was a big success. Everyone was amazed at the outstanding work they created during the workshop. City scenes launch our paintings because they can include so many different elements. Buildings, trees, transportation, skies, people... your imagination is the limit. What is most important is to experiment and play with form, colour and layering. You will create a painting starting with the sketch of a city scene, using markers, collage and photo transfer to complete your painting by the end of Sunday. 

I love this workshop because everyone's results can be different from each other. Some want to draw an exact replica of a scene, while others want to work from a fantasy place. Following your creative desire is encouraged.

During the last workshop, some students brought ipads or laptops in order to work from a picture they like. Other's worked from a printed photograph from their own collection. I will have some city scenes available that are both inspiring and accessible for all levels. YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW HOW TO DRAW to enjoy this workshop.

I always work on board - never canvas. If you want to work on gallery quality birchboard canvas please bring these to class. I will be providing small boards for experimenting. 

Please bring a sketchbook, felt pens, pencil and sharpener/eraser and apron. The rest of the supplies will be included. 

• To register please send full name, address and phone number to: jakejoyartist@gmail.com.  
• Refer someone else to the workshop who signs-up and receive one of my signed prints at the workshop!
• Once I receive your payment, I will send you a receipt.
• It is fully refundable if 5 days notice are given. After that there will be a $25 fee kept to cover extra supplies purchased for your spot. If the workshop is cancelled, then 100% will be refunded. ​

($40 discount for previous cityscape workshop participants who also bring their own paints & Acrylic medium)

Saturday &  Sunday, Oct 17 & 18, 2020. 1 - 5pm  Cost: $150
LIMITED SPACE available - max 10 students. We will be following all recommendations to stay safe, including wearing masks.
I am so excited for this, as it will be the first workshop dedicated specifically to young people! I want to support the next generation who has had to put up with such a crazy world these days! I want to offer a joyous place to create where complete self-expression is encouraged and accepted. If I can supply a place for 10 teens  to relax, be themselves and express feelings they may have about life these days - then I will rejoice!

I will be showing lots of techniques that I use, but also, students will show and share things they have learned along the way. It will be a very collaborative approach. You bring: sketchbook. felt pens - like sharpies, pencils you like and a sharpener. I supply the rest!

Some techniques we will explore are: painting with ink & acrylic. Collage and Ink transfer. Linocut printmaking. Wax layering. Expect multiple activities to be happening at once. Embrace variety and experimentation.

To register please send full name, age, address and phone number to: jakejoyartist@gmail.com.  

After a week of getting settled in Mexico city, I now have a studio on the roof! It is a wonderful studio with plenty of room and light.