By Laura McAlister
Journal Editor
As Dari and Rob Roden were saying their wedding vows at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Joy Varnell captured the moment for them – not with a camera, but a canvas.
Joy is owner of Live Event Art of Alabama, which she founded about a year ago. With the new business venture, the artist leaves the privacy of her home studio and paints at public events. Her most popular venues to date are weddings and receptions.
“I really didn’t know how I’d feel about having people watch me,” she said of painting live events. “But it really doesn’t bother me at all. It’s really fun.
“People are very curious, and with weddings, everybody is so happy. The brides are so much fun to work with.”
When painting weddings or receptions, Joy said, she meets with the couple beforehand to discuss the event. On the wedding day, she arrives a few hours early so she can begin painting the scene.
“Then I fill it in as people arrive,” she said.
When it came to Dari and Rob’s wedding, the Hoover couple wanted their beloved church to be the star of their painting. Joy sat in the balcony of the church during the ceremony and painted the scene.
Dari said she couldn’t be more pleased with the results.
“We actually have it hanging in the hallway when you first walk in the door,” she said. “It turned out so good. We got it right after our honeymoon. She did such a beautiful job.”
While Joy was out of sight for the most part at Dari and Rob’s wedding, the artist often becomes part of the event when she paints at receptions.
Though she works with the wedding planners to find a spot where she’s not interrupting the reception, Joy said, people often flock around her to see how the painting is progressing.
“I was doing one wedding at the Matt Jones Gallery, and all the children were just sitting around me watching,” she said, laughing. “One person apologized, saying they didn’t mean for me to be the sitter.”
Before starting Live Event Art of Alabama, Joy worked mainly from her Springville home.
She did commissioned work in just about any medium. For live events, though, she uses only acrylics.
“Acrylics have no odor,” she said. “They also dry quicker. I try to paint as much as I can while I’m there. Then I take it back to my studio to finish it.”
Joy is the only live event artist in the Birmingham area and one of only a few in Alabama, she said.
She got the idea for Live Event Art of Alabama while watching a wedding show.
“It was late one night, and I was watching ‘Dream Weddings’ or ‘Elegant Weddings,’ something like that,” she said. “It was a wedding on the beach in California, and they had an artist. I thought that was such a cool idea.”
Her customers since she started the business have thought so, too.
It also was late one night when Dari found Live Event Art of Alabama. She said she was researching the Internet for ideas on guest books and came across an article on live event artists.
“This one was from Atlanta or something, so I just Googled live event artists in Alabama,” she said. “I thought it would just be such a great keepsake, something we could pass down.”
From painting couples saying their vows to the bride and groom’s first dance, Joy said it’s really about capturing the atmosphere of the special day.
“People haven’t really asked me to paint a particular moment,” Joy said. “By the time the guests arrive, I’ve already started the background. Then they walk into the painting.
“There’s usually just a moment, and I know that’s the one. Sometimes it’s the first dance, but you never know. All weddings are different.”
For more information about Joy and Live Event Art of Alabama, visit www.joyvarnellart.com.