Artist Bio

Joy Calonico has devoted her life to painting, beginning her artistic journey as a child and selling commissioned oil portraits by age 10. As a teenager growing up near the beach in Pacific Palisades, California, she designed and sold illustrated sweatshirts, which led to part-time work designing graphics in a local print shop and selling original art to interior designers. Her talent was recognized early, earning her a place at UCLA for gifted art students at age 15 and later a BFA from the University of California, as well as a teaching credential. Calonico taught art in Beverly Hills and Willits, California, and by her early twenties, her paintings adorned private homes, offices, restaurants, and commercial spaces.

At just 21, she was commissioned to create large-scale paintings for Rockwell International’s high-rise tower lobby, a project that opened the door to further commercial commissions. After notable early accomplishments and exhibitions, Calonico shifted focus at 24, pursuing a successful career in music with recording contracts as a singer-songwriter. Eventually, she returned to painting, settling in the mountains of northern California, raising her daughter, and exploring Abstract Expressionism on large tempered boards. Her work once again found homes with collectors, businesses, and designers throughout the region.

Calonico favors the open possibilities of abstract expressionism, seeing each piece as a dynamic extension of her creative spirit. Her mature style is defined by honesty, freedom, and energetic expression, with each canvas reflecting her personal truth. Through technology and her Art Love Decor store, she now shares her art with a wider audience while maintaining her quiet mountain lifestyle.