I am Emily, usually known as Em, and I'm the artist behind InspiredJoy. I live with husband Tim, who does something computery for his job, and our cat, Petey, whose hobbies include sitting on the paper that I'm trying to draw on and chasing the top of the paintbrush that I'm using! As for Tim and I, we love to play our collection of musical instruments, play board games and spend time with our friends.
I've been drawing for years, but more and more frequently in the last couple of years. In 2019 I decided to do something with my art and Inspired Joy began. I puzzled over the name for my artwork for quite some time, with no success. Once I stopped trying myself, and God gave me the name, ‘Inspired Joy’ one day. I knew straight away that this was it, the name to put on all my artwork.
I looked at the dictionary definition for ‘inspired’ and it means
'of extraordinary quality, as if arising from some external impulse'
… and that’s where the designs come from… they are Inspired by God.
My pictures come from all sorts of places. Sometimes I see a picture when I read the bible, sometimes it’s when I listen to songs, sometimes my notes from listening to a sermon are in the form of a picture or sometimes I have a particular verse that I would like to study.
When I get a picture, I try to scribble it down straight away so that I don’t forget it. Then begins the process of drawing, painting or writing it. I try to seek God on every aspect of the piece of art work, such as whether it’s a painting or written piece and which materials and colours to use.
I don’t always get it quite right, but this is the start of my new journey!