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About Joy
Joy is an artist who is self-taught specializing in Realism.
Born in Sydney NSW Australia, as a 5 year old child, Joy started out
painting with water colours and by the age
of 10 had graduated to oil paints. She had the advantage of learning
at the knee of her mother, Gwen Flemming, who was a talented prize
winning artist. Joy learnt about form and design from her father,
Frank, who was until 1975, head draftsman and designer for De
Havilland Aviation.
Over the years, Joy has dabbled and experimented in modern, surreal
and abstract art forms enjoying the freedom and the different
textures but her heart always led her back to the fine detail of
realism. Her art has always been influenced by her surroundings. Her
attention to the realistic detail of her subject matter is reflected
in each life-like painting with her studying, photographing and
researching the subject matter until all relevant information is at
her fingertips.
Her subject matter is extremely varied as she allows inspiration to
attract her to her different subjects with figure work, portraiture,
still life, beaches, boats, flora and fauna, landscapes, seascapes,
Grecian style influences, Australian bird and frog species, you name
it she will paint it.
Joy has been painting professionally over the past 43 years,
producing on canvas a vast array of fine art, which is to be found
displayed in galleries, restaurants and hospitals throughout
Australia. Her artworks can also be found in private homes in
England, Singapore, Canada, America and Japan.
She has had many successful exhibits in galleries both in NSW and
QLD. She was a long time feature in the Bold and Gold Gallery at
Maleny and also at the Tree Frog Gallery on the Montville Road. She
has won awards in competitions and exhibitions, accepted prizes in
local competitions and was awarded 3rd Place in the Realism section
of The International Art Contest for 2012. She has also been asked
on several occasions to judge Art Gallery’s exhibits. 21 of her
original works were displayed in a private showing in the new
Caboolture “HUB” Gallery for December 2013. She was also a finalist
in the National Holmes Art Prize 2015. She has received awards from
the ECCA gallery for her exhibits. She is also a designer, layout
designer and painter of book covers for novelists.
Well known as an accomplished teacher and inspired Australian Artist
and Designer, she has had nine books and various calendars
published, one is "For The Joy Of It" - Art Scene Publications. She
has also been regularly published for her artistic efforts in
Australia's top Painting and Artist Magazines.
Originally an oil painter, due to an allergy, her main medium is now
Acrylics. This has opened another world in her artwork as her work
is now more layered using various washes, also inks and other
mediums as well.
Over the past 34 odd years she has been a colour and test consultant
for Sydney based, well known artist paint manufacturers, Chroma
Australia Pty. Limited. She loves Atelier "Interactive" and "Free
Flow". She enjoys the full pigmentation and brilliant colour range
of these light fast mediums.
Her expertise as a designer and developer was highlighted in the mid
1990’s when Joy designed a selected color range for her own artwork
use. Due to the popularity of her designer colours they were added
to the international artists medium, "Acrylic Flow", manufactured by
Australian based company, Matisse Pty. Limited. These colours are
still today part of the Matisse range for all of their paint ranges.
While in Sydney she was also a much sort after consultant for faux
finishes for Dulux Paints.
Joy first started teaching in 1972 and then in 1982 opened her
Sydney based studio/art/craft supply business. In 1997 she moved to
QLD relocating her successful business to Bribie Island. Due to
cancer in 1999 she decided to close this very popular venue and
business.
She is also known internationally under the name of Joy Vagg, for
her contribution to 'Decorative Art' over a period of her earlier
teaching years in her shops in NSW and QLD. She also taught
regularly at other venues from QLD down to south Sydney NSW.
A strong believer of always encouraging and advancing her students
whenever possible, Joy always started a new student by educating
them in the very basics of art and brush work. From these basic
teachings she then would lead the student into fine art works and so
then to experiment further with other art forms, mediums and
textures. Joy encouraged her students to exhibit their artwork and
there have been many successful exhibitions over the years organized
for the students to enable promotion of their work. Because of Joy’s
teachings and encouragement many of her students received awards and
accolades in other competitions that led onto furthering their own
careers in the realism and abstract art world.
Joy has recently left the Bribie Island area and has moved further
northeast of Gympie to enjoy the open spaces, fresh clear country
air and the cool gully breezes. She works from her home studio and
still is painting a varied assortment of subjects. Joy relaxes with
music, as a previous performer of musical comedy and also a
theatrical performer, she is a classically trained vocalist and
entertainer, performing over the years in many theatres in Sydney
and Brisbane, piano bars and clubs. She has also been known to help
out with her artist skills by painting backdrops and directing stage
shows.
Joy has two children, both artists in their own right. Jaclyn is
also accomplished in theatre and as a photographer. She is an
artist/teacher specializing in all different mediums from her
original artworks through to her own acrylic paintings. Russell, a
professional photographer, he enjoyed theatre work as well as
playing guitar. Unfortunately at 32 years of age, he passed after a
long battle with cancer on 16th December 2011. The painting
"Shadows" in the Gallery was dedicated to Russell and helped raise
monies for the Cancer Fund of QLD.
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