WELCOME TO HOPE FOR WOMEN ARTS

  Is the art jewelry for sale?  Yes, the jewelry is for sale and they do accept commission work. A percentage of proceeds go to Arizona Art Alliance for art supplies.

Skilled instructors are committed to helping participants bring out their inner creativity in a safe, comfortable, and fun environment. Art therapy is a wonderful healing experience and something that anyone can do. 

 Domestic violence has been around since the beginning of time. The cycle is like a disease, a curse most people say. Our parents and grandparents experienced it, and now our children are experiencing it as well.

  Domestic violence touches everyone, especially one specific, renowned artist in Arizona. "Art therapy can help you to overcome much of your anger, sadness, frustrations, and helplessness through its creative process, if you have an open mind" Joyce states. She has followed this form of therapy for many years. It was and is her way out of darkness.

 Originally from Mississippi, Joyce is a survivor of molestation by her father and other members of her family.  She was an only child; raped at the tender age of thirteen. She is the mother of ten children and stated that “being raised by your kid’s father from the age of thirteen to twenty-seven was a nightmare”.  Joyce endured many beatings. She told me that ‘Woman, Thou Art Loosed’ (a book by Bishop TD Jakes and later released as a major film) could have depicted her life. Her mother did not believe her father could do what he did to Joyce.  “She was probably afraid too, he beat her on a weekly basis and when I was small, I remember sleeping under the house with her” Joyce recounted. Her father passed away in 1968 from cancer and her mother died in 1970 from a stove explosion.

 Joyce married and the molestation continued with all of her girls; a child was conceived.  After that, Joyce went from one bad relationship to another and in 1977 was left for dead after a severe beating.  She finally left everything behind and fled to a battered women’s home but lost her children for ten years. Her oldest son was shot at age fifteen. She got a job at the hospital and slept on the hospital floor for six months while he learned to walk again. “Being a single mom was no picnic but at least I wasn’t being beaten” Joyce said. Diagnosed with fibromyalgia, diabetes, hypertension and cancer, resulted in a break down and even though art has been with her for many years, she did not realize its ability to change her life until 1994-95. When asked how she got started making jewelry, Joyce stated “My trade and skill is being a fork lift operator. I was injured, my job was lost.

In order to support myself, I found someone that taught me how to make a floral basket.  From there a floral business started and I ran it for almost 10 years.  For health reasons I had to close the business. I kept the vases that were broken by employees; some of the vases cost over $100.00, so I saved them. I read about blowing glass in a magazine so I researched and found that it was more expensive than I could afford, so fusing was my next option. 

 It was cheaper to buy a kiln and start so that is what I did. I almost set my home on fire by putting mixed glass into my new kiln. I learned that you have to have compatible glass for it to be a success.  After that minor setback, I went to the library, found out I could get up to 30 books on a library card, so I checked out 30 books and read up on how to fuse glass, and the rest is history as they say”.   

Her first piece of jewelry came about by accident while transforming a regular glass container into something more unique. She called her new creation "Hole-N-My-Soul". Joyce's proprietary techniques in her Sculpted Art Jewelry were born. Sculpted glass pieces that glow with color are set into intricate tangles of gold and silver metals. These wearable works of art have attracted customers throughout the United States.  Joyce found another form of working with glass. Her father was an alcoholic, so she decided to take the glass wine, whiskey and beer bottles and create something constructive from something so destructive. This is how Bottle Art was born. 

 In her equally colorful African attire, Ms. White presents a striking, proud and joyous persona. "Exploring my art has become synonymous with exploring my past and my pain; it has provided significant healing for me. I love the idea of this transformation of mine creating something of beauty for others to cherish and enjoy. It is about sharing hope and looking toward the future".  Joyce has a new line coming out next year, so bookmark her site to help support battered women. Together, we can stop this terrible crime.  As women, we are a valuable asset to our communities and WE DO have more to offer. Through our Hope for Women Arts survivors, we will learn a sense of self worth as they bring out their inner creativity in us.

We are no longer victims, WE ARE SURVIVORS!!! There is HOPE FOR WOMEN IN ARTS...  The American Domestic Violence Crisis Line