Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joy Bradley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Joy, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I’ve always been good at artistic outlets growing up. I’m the type of person where I’m good at creating things with my hands, but it was always just a hobby. A few years ago while I was searching for ideas to design my friend’s wedding, I stumbled across these beautiful giant flowers. I immediately started to research how they were made. A lot of the information I came across was from international locations; pointedly from Russia. So, I took a huge leap of faith and traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia on a solo trip to attend a week-long giant flower replica master class. When I returned, I dived into creating art. Through endless hours of practice, cuts, burns, frustration, joy, triumphs, innovation, and creativity, I built upon the knowledge I gained in Russia and evolved to create my own artistic style. I’m a mixed-media installation artist and my style is fantastical-based. I build giant freestanding pieces of art utilizing various materials, some being everyday materials. I think that’s where my creativity really comes into play beyond just building; seeing a mundane material and visualizing how it can be used as a part of a giant art piece. I also know how to weld which is very helpful when creating the bases for my artworks to stand on. The bases are made of steel because they have to support the size of my art pieces; I’ve built pieces that stood 14 feet tall before. When it comes to being an installation artist, I think the most challenging part is not knowing how long a piece will take to create. As I learn my craft more, it’s easier to estimate the production time, but when something you create stands taller than you, you just don’t know what it will truly take to build it until you start. Also, I’ve learned that I can never know too many construction skills because the more I know, the better my art becomes. But learning new skills can sometimes take a while to master.
Joy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I never thought I would become an artist. I attended the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor for my undergraduate education and earned a bachelor’s degree in biopsychology, cognition, and neuroscience; something completely unrelated to my art work. I still have a love for science, fitness, and health so I’m currently working towards a master’s degree in dietetics. I’ve been working as an artist under by business name Joy x Design for the last 5 years. I’m an installation artist that creates giant sized art pieces with a fantastical style. The size of my pieces are made to enrapture the viewer and give them a glimpse into another dimension. I draw inspiration from the many fantastical stories, movies, and soundtracks I enjoyed since childhood that transported my imagination into another world. I started off creating pieces out of a room in my house after I returned home from working a full-time healthcare job. I shared my work to businesses and individuals who I thought would enjoy them. After that, I was blessed with major commissioned opportunities that allowed me to earn an income as an artist while also evolving as an artist. I think what I create is truly unique; I would be hard pressed to find art pieces like the ones I create, especially due to their size. I also think my art gives my audience a unique glimpse into another dimension that they only experience in movies and stories. What I’m most proud of when it comes to my art is that I love seeing my evolution/growth as an artist and learning more about myself in the process. How I think and feel about my art now is way different than when I first started. Even though the creation process can get tedious and time consuming, I love stepping back and viewing the final product when it’s done; surprising myself that I even created it. I also love seeing people enjoying my art. It just really encourages me to keep going, growing, and evolving.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn is thinking that there is only one path in life that I should follow. I struggled for a long time to call myself an artist because it wasn’t my ideal career choice. So when I left for college, I was solely focused on a healthcare career that I thought I should have. Years later, after realizing I was forcing myself into a box, my creative side started to emerge again. The difficult part was not knowing how that played into who I am now and how much of a role I wanted it to play in my future; I was still interested in the sciences. I was always waiting for God to steer me towards one direction or the other, science or art. However, a way was being made for me to exist in both fields, so I really didn’t know what to do or choose. But then I had to ask myself, ‘Why am I boxing myself in again?’ No one has ever told me that I had to choose one career/life pathway and give up on all others. That was a construct I created in my own mind. If you have many talents and interests, explore them all! God gave them to you for a reason. Utilize every part of you!
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
One resource I know now that I wish I utilized sooner is reaching out to other artists who use similar mediums as me or who inspire me to think outside the box. I think when it comes to being an artist, there’s a lot of pride we have in our work and our own style, so sometimes it’s hard to humble ourselves to reach out and ask questions in order to improve on what we already do. Especially as a mixed-media building type of artist that I am, asking questions is so important because I know I don’t know everything when it comes to building safely, effectively, and efficiently. So if I run into a technique I’ve never seen before or I find an artist who uses similar materials as I do, I reach out and ask questions. It challenges me and helps me to become a better artist.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.joyxdesign.com
- Instagram: @joyxdsn
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/joyxdesign