We recently connected with Joey Deruy and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Joey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?
I’ve always immersed myself in creative spaces — projects, classes, groups — anything that allowed me to keep growing. Art has been a constant in my life. If I could go back, I think I would have taken my education even more seriously and applied myself with greater focus earlier on. Not because I regret the path, but because I understand now how powerful it is to pair instinct and lived experience with deeper study. At the same time, the real-world insight and hands-on awareness I gained outside traditional structures shaped my perspective in a way that feels essential to the work I’m making today.
Joey , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’ve always used art to make sense of the world. As a child, drawing became my way to process life’s ups and downs, and it gave me a space I could carry with me wherever I went. Being introspective and sensitive, I learned early to see and feel deeply — and art became my language.
I immersed myself in creative spaces from a young age — sketching, taking live painting classes, and exploring every opportunity to create. By my teens, commissions and gallery shows were starting to follow, and by eighteen, I was featured in my first national magazine. Those experiences taught me persistence, curiosity, and how to trust my instincts, even when the path ahead wasn’t clear..
Later, I combined hands-on experience with formal study, which deepened my understanding of art and how to push my own practice further. I’ve grown up with one foot in analog and the other in digital worlds.
I cherish the tactile joy of painting on canvas or wood, the textures and spontaneity it brings, while embracing modern approaches to expand what’s possible. My work balances painterly instinct with precision, abstraction with realism, and always celebrates humanity, the flaws, the spirit, and the brevity of life. Each project is a chance to merge experience, imagination, and technical skill into something immersive and alive.
Have you ever had to pivot?
For me, pivoting is just part of life — the world doesn’t stop moving, and neither do we. Moments show up unexpectedly, sometimes chaotic, sometimes exciting, and I’ve learned to see them as chances to grow or try something new.
I embrace these shifts — in relationships, work, or creative projects — as invitations to reinvent, experiment, and explore directions I might not have imagined. Everything is connected: a lesson in one part of life often shines light on another.
In my career as an artist, pivoting happens all the time — trying a new technique, exploring a different medium, or responding to opportunities that appear out of nowhere. Those moments spark creativity, push me to take risks, and keep my work alive and evolving. I like to think of them as life nudging me to play, imagine, and make something unexpected.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding part of being an artist is being able to create in a way that words can’t always capture. Art lets me share ideas, feelings, or moments that might be hard to explain otherwise. I love turning what I imagine or feel into something people can experience — whether it inspires, comforts, or makes them see something in a new way.
I also love that art can connect people. Capturing the essence of a person, a story, or a moment in a way a photo or words alone can’t is incredibly meaningful. When my work brings joy, reflection, or even supports a cause, it reminds me that creativity is one of the most powerful ways to connect, inspire, and make an impact.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.joeyderuy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joeyderuy?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joeyderuy?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeyderuy?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@joeyderuy?si=Qh-0IZST_B244cVs
- Other: Pinteresthttps://pin.it/s0Knqf0X5
Image Credits
Joey Deruy