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Pure joy! Literally… this is Joy. She’s the niece of one of my favorite painters, Toronto based artist Janna Watson {jpgs do NOT do these large-scale beauties justice}. I posted this video of Joy in action before the holidays because, HELLO, we all need this kind of pure unbridled happiness in our lives, right? Janna completely agrees, so much so that her newest show, that opens at Bau-Xi in Vancouver this Saturday January 9th, is titled “Finding Joy”. Here’s the description:

This series is dedicated to and inspired by Joy, the artist’s three-year-old niece, and in it Watson collapses pictorial and physical space to tell visual anecdotes of the time they spent together. An escape from the bouts of seriousness and isolation that punctuate adult life, this new and different headspace is reflected in Watson’s most-recent work, which is playful, spontaneous, and imbued with delight.

“In a time where it’s hard to know what’s right and everything is so complex, I was drawn to the simplicity around Joy … Sometimes life happens and we forget what it feels like to be free.” ~ Janna Watson

Ahhh, so true! ps. the red painting above is titled “Fly Horsie!”… for obvious reasons! The show runs until Jan 23rd.