Joyce COMBS (1933-2023) COMONI STUDIOS Mixed media on paper Framed under glass 20th century Dimensions: H: 97; W: 163 cm Joyce Combs was born in southwest Oklahoma (USA). With an initial degree in science from Oklahoma State University, she went on to study at the Glassell Museum School, the academic wing of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. She worked in the fine arts, mainly in oils, for twenty years before turning to handmade paper. Joyce Combs was fascinated by the beauty of the aging process and recreates this quality in her art. The materials selected to produce the weathered surfaces on her dimensional cast paper included enamels, oil washes, acrylics, lacquers, inks, prisma color, oil pastels and charcoal. She dyed, hand-rubbed, waxed, scraped and varnished to develop a unique richness of color and texture. "Cast paper is a wonderful catalyst. It takes on the appearance of metals, leather, stone or marble. Paper's creative possibilities are limitless in combining the rich textures and colors produced by man and nature."