A Shift Toward What’s Real
I’ve spent the greater part of this weekend updating this website to reflect where I am now — not where I’ve been.
For a long time, this space tried to hold everything: photography, design, travel, ideas, past versions of myself. It felt like a resume more than a studio. This change is about simplifying and telling the truth.
I no longer identify as a photographer.
That sentence took longer to write than I expected. Photography will always be part of how I see the world, but it’s no longer how I want to work in it. The lifestyle, the expectations, and the industry no longer fit — and I’m okay with that. Letting go doesn’t erase the dream; it just makes room for something else.
What I’m focused on now is art — real, physical, imperfect art.
Painting, sketching, experimenting with materials, and learning through observation and intuition. Some days I work from reference. Other days I paint from images that exist only in my head, the same way a story plays out visually when I’m listening to an audiobook. It’s messy. It’s not methodical. And it’s the most honest creative process I’ve had.
This website is now a studio, not a résumé.
You’ll find my artwork, process, and the work I’m actively making and selling — primarily original, affordable pieces meant to be lived with. In a world flooded with AI, templates, and mass-produced content, the one thing that can’t be replicated is a piece made by hand. That matters to me.
I’m sharing this work daily through short-form video on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, with longer-form videos a few times each month. Not to teach in a traditional sense — but to let people observe, watch, and feel inspired to try things themselves. That’s how I learned, and I still believe it’s enough.
Looking ahead, I’m setting myself a challenge: changing mediums every 30 days. Painting will always be part of the mix, but curiosity is the point. I want to see what happens when I stay open instead of chasing mastery.
There may be travel again someday. There may be classes eventually. There will definitely be days of doubt, self-criticism, and figuring things out as I go — especially while caring for my mom as she navigates Alzheimer’s. Life isn’t simple, and I’m not trying to present it that way.
This shift isn’t about starting over.
It’s about choosing what’s real — and staying with it.
— Joy
