Phoebe Joynt is an Art of Austin artist! Get to know more about her and her work!
Phoebe Joynt
AoA – How long have you been in Austin and how did you find your way here?
Phoebe – I’ve been in Austin for a little under a year and am totally in love with this city. I love all the beautiful people I have met here and the connections I have established. I think my creative career really got a jumpstart when I moved here. I came from New York originally, and moved to Austin to begin a new part of my life journey. Up until this point I had lived in New York State my entire life and I guess I just decided it was time for something new. So I traded in the snow for the heat.
AoA – When did you realize that you were an artist?
Phoebe – I think I always wanted to be an artist since I was really young and would bring my pencil and sketchbook with me everywhere. I felt most comfortable in the art classroom. My dream was to one day become a professional artist. Today, I realize I will forever be an art student and never an art master. Even with my design degree, I am always teaching myself new creative techniques and learning from fellow artists around me. I always want to be growing and maturing as an artist. I don’t think there is ever a point when you can say, “yeah now I’m a master, I’m a professional artist, I have accomplished and learned it all.” For me being an artist is a constant journey; a lifetime of exploration.
AoA – Can you speak to your art training?
Phoebe – I was super blessed to have such a creative family surround me and push me to become the artist I am today. Everyone was influential and important me to during those formative years. But if I can speak to one family member in particular, my Aunt Kate. She really saw my hidden creative passions from a very young age, she would bring me into art galleries and museums as soon as I started walking. I was introduced to the work of Damien Hirst, Wolf Kahn, Andy Warhol, etc. all by elementary school. She constantly broadened my horizon of what art can be, showed me all the different forms it can take, and all the possibility and potential an artist can have in life. She really pushed me to continue creating and I owe her so much for that. I continued my artistic training into college where I graduated from Pratt in Brooklyn, NY with a design degree in 2015.
AoA – Who are some of the artists you look to?
Phoebe – I look to a multitude of artists. They’re classic rebels like Marcel Duchamp and later badass artists like Basquiat and Keith Haring. People who weren’t afraid to try something totally different and wild for their time. They are the pioneers that pushed modern art and street art into what it is today. They really forced the audience to open their perspectives onto what constitutes art and where art can be created and seen. I’m currently crushing hard on the work of Tristan Eaton, Shepard Fairey, David Flores, Kelsey Brookes, Aaron De La Cruz, Pro 176, Lauren YS. I’m leaving out so many more names but those are just a few that come to mind.
AoA – Where do you derive inspiration from?
Phoebe – I get inspiration from everywhere. Literally. If I’m bored and stuck inside I’ll jump on instagram or pinterest or even listen to an art podcast to get inspired and see what everyone else is producing out there in the world. I get inspiration all over Austin too. I feel really blessed to live in a city that is so art forward with our abundance of mural work and art spaces like Hope Outdoor Gallery, this place really just promotes all types of visual arts. I get inspired by everyone putting their art out there and showing us the world through their eyes.
AoA – Can you tell us a little bit about your work?
Phoebe – So my work has been constantly changing and evolving lately. I still don’t think I have a definitive style I can put my finger on. But I’m trying a lot of different illustration styles and medium techniques to try to reign in more of a set style that really speaks to my personal artistic presence. I find art that inspires me, absorbing new techniques by artists I revere and I try to create my own work based on all that inspiration and intrigue but work that is still personal to my own journey. If I had to dumb it down to a sentence, I would say my work is a happy medium of what happens when illustration meets modern design meets street art.
AoA – Can you talk a little about your creative processes in creating?
Phoebe – My creative process usually begins on the computer, ironically enough, because I try to stay away from the computer as much as possible and really just create with my hands and a multitude of mediums. But I try to come up with rough thumbnails in photoshop scaled to the size of whatever canvas / wood / wall surface I’ll be creating on. I like to get a rough skeleton of the main imagery and then be creative during the hands on process of painting, from color schemes to patterns to stenciling. Sometimes the final result looks a lot like my first initial sketch and other times it changes and looks nothing like the OG images. I let that decision making happen all during the creation process. So I guess my process can really vary at times.
AoA – If you could own one piece from a living artist, who would it be?
Phoebe – If I could get my hands on any piece of work I would get one of Tristan Eaton’s “Medusa” prints. They’re these crazy 24 layered silkscreen prints with hand painted elements on them as well. The whole piece is just super mesmerizing and I can get lost just looking into individual sections throughout the print. The color palette is all over the place but it all comes together so cohesively and it’s really inspiring to try to piece together how it was created and produced.
AoA – Big question. What do you feel the role of art is in the world?
Phoebe – First and foremost I think the role of art is to add more beauty into this world, and through that beauty we become more connected to one another. By this I mean that art makes us see things differently. It allows us to see this world though some else’s perspective, and when we start seeing things from other people’s viewpoints we all get a lot closer and unified and share connections with one another. Super cheesy, but I think that’s the special thing about art.
AoA – What else do you enjoy besides making art?
Phoebe – I make these pretty badass friendship bracelets, they’re just woven together pieces of string. But I use like 7 or 9 colors on each one so they come out looking pretty dope.
AoA – Where can we find your work? Do you have any shows planned for the future?
Phoebe – My work is pretty much on every social media platform. I try to be as accessible to the general public as possible. My personal site is phoebejoynt.com but I’m most active on instagram @feebee_n_jay. I’m usually uploading something there at least once every other day. I also have an art page on facebook at FeeBee Art, if facebook is still even a thing? I dunno I just feel like facebook is slowly getting surpassed by instagram these days as the social medium of relevance. As for planned future events I have some pretty exciting opportunities happening in San Antonio, I’m not sure how much I can speak to one of them, but I’m also working on a large scale lettering based mural, probably my largest piece to date. I’m getting pretty hyped on that. So keep an eye out on my social platforms for more upcoming details!
Thank you Art of Austin for asking great questions and for wanting to get to know me a little bit more and for this fantastic opportunity! I think you all are amazing and groovy people.
AoA – Thank you, Phoebe! You’re a dope ass artist and we look forward to keeping up with you and your work!
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