Artist Joy Lomenick kept the fire at bay, armed with a hose to water down the
trees surrounding her Simi Valley property. "We ended up with one
slightly torched tree," she says. Lomenick is especially thankful,
considering her track record with natural disaster: she was out of business for
over a year after the earthquake in 1994. Pictures of
Fire ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Los Angeles Times Newspaper Article
Monday, May 8, 2000
She's a little bit country -- and a little bit whimsical
* Name : Joy Lomenick
* Family status: Married with one child.
* Age: Old enough to know better but not enough to care.
* Education: Masters in art from California State University, Northridge, with an emphasis
on advertising graphics.
* Occupation: Freelance artist.
* Starting out: It was like anybody who starts out in a career. It was frustrating. One of
my teachers told me that to be an artist, it takes a lot of perseverance. The only other
thing that interested me was dancing. The lighter side of me shows in my work but if there
is one thing I fight for it's for what I believe in.
* Approach and sensibility: Whimsical with a country touch. I like to make people smile
but I can be extremely serious with lifelike renderings or abstract pieces. An artist does
not try to duplicate nature but to interpret it. When you draw, there is no point in
acting like a camera by capturing the exactness of something. I've gone through stages
with style. All artists do that. If you stay in one stage, you don't grow. I've always
thought of art as not for art's sake only, but also as business. It's something that I can
do, and I'm good at it, so I've been able to make a business out of it.
* Firsts: The first piece I ever sold was to a real estate firm to advertise a new housing
project.
* Greatest professional achievement: I think what I'm doing right now. Every time I take a
step, it's better than what I last did.
* On critically analyzing art: I have the attitude that an artist can do something just
because they like it. In a basic studies situation, you have to know theories but you need
to get beyond that. Understanding the basic rules are important but should not be
externally imposed.
* The California Strawberry Festival: It is a juried festival. They get applications from
all over the state of California and there are certain categories like wood and metal. I'm
in a ceramics category.
* Feeding the soul: I'm very self-motivated. My work is my passion. If I don't sit down
and do something creative, I'd start going bonkers in a couple of days. I don't create
just for psychological reasons but because I really love what I do. In fact, if somebody
really wanted to take something away from me, destroy my sense of who I am, that's how
they would do it -- to take my art away.
* Past life influences: I've had readings done where I was told that I was an artist in my
past lives. One of my past lives said that I lived in England and was a potterer. I was
told that I've been a clothing designer at the turn of the century in one of the eastern
states. Supposedly I was very outspoken for a woman in those times. I look at the
direction I'm going with the ceramics and I feel like it's all coming back around.
Niles
Minden