Echoes from the Deep: An Art Exhibition & Talk by Joyful

**An event part of the Tacoma Studio Tour.**

Echoes of the Deep
The dream that brought me back to life.

There is a version of me that almost didn't get to become an artist. Before the brushes, before the studio, before any of it, there was water, and there was a moment I nearly didn't come back from.

What brought me back wasn't something I can fully explain. It was a dream, one I'd had since I was a child, of swimming alongside whales in the deep blue. That dream didn't leave when I woke. It stayed with me through the hardest parts of recovery, and eventually, it became the reason I picked up a paintbrush at all.

Echoes of the Deep is a two-day exhibition of original oil paintings inspired by the wild edges of the Pacific Northwest coast, its kelp forests, its cold currents, and the whales that have shaped my life more than I ever expected them to. Watch a whale painting come to life in real time as I paint live in my studio, and hear the full story, told once each day, of the experience that changed everything: what I saw, what I almost lost, and what called me back.

This isn't just a stop on the studio tour. It's the closest I can get to putting twenty years of longing, loss, and gratitude on canvas, and inviting you to stand in the room while it happens.

Saturday, October 17

• 11:00am – Doors open, live painting begins
• 1:00pm – Talk: "Echoes of the Deep" (includes Tonga video footage)
• 1:45pm – Q&A session
• 2:15pm – 4:30pm – Live painting continues
• 4:30pm – 5:00pm – Closing and Conversation

Sunday, October 18

• 11:00am – Doors open, live painting begins
• 1:00pm – Talk: "Echoes of the Deep" (includes Tonga video footage)
• 1:45pm – Q&A session
• 2:15pm – 4:30pm – Live painting continues
• 4:30pm – 5:00pm – Closing and Conversation

📌 Note: Artwork is available for purchase both before and after the daily talk.

Everyone who takes a raffle ticket during the event and register's their email/number for my e-newsletter will be entered to win a free print of my work.

The Artist Studio is at Unit B, which faces the alley between Ainsworth and Cushman Ave. Park on 17th Street and walk down the alley towards 19th. The studio is in a white building on the left and has a circular seahorse sign hanging over the door.

Info: Joyful will be doing a live painting of a pod of Orcas, inspired by her experiences of the West Coast

Info: Before I picked up a paintbrush, I had a recurring childhood dream: swimming alongside whales in open water. I never expected that dream to save my life.

In this talk, I share the full story for the first time: the near-death experiences that nearly took everything, and how that same whale dream resurfaced and pulled me back. Painting became how I processed what I survived, and whales became the subject I couldn't stop returning to.

Then I went to find the dream in real life. I'll take you through dives in Tonga and Hawaii, face to face with whales, sharks, and mantas, the same creatures from my childhood imagination. I'll show real footage from Tonga, filmed swimming with whales in the wild, the dream made real.

This talk ties together every painting on the walls and the piece taking shape in the studio. Come for the story. Stay to see where it led

Info: Opportunity to ask Joyful questions about her story, art, artist journey, purchasing art or commission process.

Event venue & nearby stays

Joyful's Art Studio, 1722 S Cushman Ave, Tacoma, United States

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