I'm a 60 year old artist in Memphis, Tennessee. I spend my life trying to catch stories, give them form, color and light, then send back out into the world.
You can get prints and cards of some of my work on Redbubble. They also print my work on lots of other items, including phone skins, tote bags, shirts and journals:
If you’d like to support my art and writing, please consider becoming a donor on Patreon. If I get enough supporters, I can make this blog ad-free! Here’s a link to my Patreon page:
I haven’t blogged for a while, so I wanted to check in and let you know I’m using most of my spare time getting ready for an open studio show on June 1. (If you’re in Memphis & want to know my address, email me or message me on Facebook for the details.)
I always think I can get more done than I can, but between the things I have to do to live and the paintings I need to finish, I’m left without the mental energy to blog.
I also think I can finish a painting pretty quickly once I have the idea or concept, but that’s never the case anymore. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, taking the time to make a work the best I can, but with a deadline looming and a desire to finish certain works before June 1, makes me a bit frantic.
The show includes my son’s work, and I have quite a few pieces finished, so there will be lots of art. I’m really worrying out of habit. I like to set a goal and then worry that I don’t meet it, instead of letting things unfold in their own time. They unfold in their own time anyway, so I might as well keep working at the pace I feel best about.
When I’m plagued by chronic fatigue, getting anything done is an achievement. I find if I do little bits on a regular basis, suddenly I have an abundant amount of work. If I can keep from comparing myself to others, I realize I’ve done a lot — especially when I could actually be doing nothing and no one would mind or be hurt by it.
I make my own life and art.
So here’s two pieces that are in process now:
Unravelling (unfinished)Hibiscus (unfinished)
There will be more to come.
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Thanks for reading my post. If you like it share it. If you find a typo, please let me know and I’ll send you a thank-you postcard.
You can get prints and cards of some of my work on Redbubble. They also print my work on lots of other items, including phone skins, tote bags, shirts and journals:
If you’d like to support my art and writing, please consider becoming a donor on Patreon. If I get enough supporters, I can make this blog ad-free! Here’s a link to my Patreon page:
If you’d like to support my art and writing, please consider becoming a donor on Patreon. If I get enough supporters, I can make this blog ad-free! Here’s a link to my Patreon page:
I’ve loved Frankd Robinson’s art for probably 2 decades now. He is a Memphis artist who uses paint, collage, found objects and his own unique style to create vibrant art. His work honors the reality of urban life, the struggles of Black people and Black women in particular. He has a way of taking mundane items and the things we discard and turning them into works of art.
I remember when I first saw his work thinking it’s like he’s taken all the trash I see at the bus stop and turned into something dynamic and glorious. His work made me see how you can create with whatever is at hand, how to integrate words into vivid color.
Here’s a video of him from about 9 years ago, talking about his art:
Lately, Robinson has had to deal with diabetes and difficult health transitions. Although I don’t know him that well, I follow him on Facebook and Instagram. He posts pictures of his everyday life, of his dialysis, of his physical therapy after amputations, of his friends and family, his barber, his fraternity brothers. Still telling a story, still knowing his life has value.
He’s made these cool, dramatic necklaces/amulets:
When I saw this photo:
I was so taken by the tree tattoo, that I decided I had to do a sort of portrait based on him.
I looked at a lot of pictures of him, a lot of his art. I read his encouragements to everyone, the way he posts positive things about life, while remaining very real about our struggles.
I worked on it for a over a month, and finished a few days ago. I call it “How Does Your Garden Grow?”
How Does Your Garden Grow? for Frankd Robinson by Joy Murray
Despair accompanies illness and disability, but so does learning and resilience. And love. You learn to love yourself enough to survive. You learn who really loves you, who helps you when you are thrown a curve and your whole life changes; who loves you when they know you’ll never be the same physically. You learn your limits, but also your strengths.
When I am low, I remember it’s my job to love my damned self. And when I do that, all these other bits of beauty bloom in my life.
I’m so fortunate to have art in my life, and to have found the art of Frankd Robinson.
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Thanks for reading my post. If you like it share it. If you find a typo, please let me know and I’ll send you a thank-you postcard.
If you’d like to support my art and writing, please consider becoming a donor on Patreon. If I get enough supporters, I can make this blog ad-free! Here’s a link to my Patreon page:
joy murray art~stories~life 