About

Hey, I'm Robert Joyner.

Full-time artist. Garage studio. Eighteen years of making art, breaking rules, and occasionally wondering what the hell I was thinking.

I paint mostly with acrylics, watercolor, and mixed media. My work is loose, colorful, sometimes chaotic, and rarely goes according to plan.

That's usually when things get interesting.

The Garage

When we bought our house during COVID, it had everything we wanted except a studio.

Good neighborhood. Good schools. Happy family.

So I took one for the team and moved into the garage.

No regrets.

It's a mess of bikes, rakes, art supplies, and a workbench that's seen better days. And I wouldn't trade it.

Turns out you don't need a fancy studio to make good art.

You just need to start.

How I Paint

I like to experiment. Smear paint around. Scratch into things. Grab some ridiculous tool from the garage and see what happens.

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it's a disaster. Either way, I'm learning something.

But don't mistake loose painting for random guessing.

Drawing, design, values, and composition are the foundation. Learn how things work, and you earn the freedom to take them apart.

Learn the bones. Break the rules. Paint loose.

That's the whole idea.

The Work

Over the years, I've been fortunate to work on some interesting projects.

I was the official artist for the 2012 Kentucky Derby, created commissioned artwork for Carnival Cruise Line, and had my work featured on CBS television productions and in the National Pastime Museum.

I've also sold thousands of original paintings to collectors.

Not bad for a guy working out of a garage.

Stonington, Maine

When I first started painting, I was living in Florida and running a bicycle shop. One day, a customer from New England wandered in, and we got to talking about summer vacations.

I mentioned we were planning a trip up the Maine coast.

He said, "If you're heading that way, you've got to check out Stonington. It's off the beaten path."

So we did.

And man, that place stuck with me.

The rugged coastline, weathered fishing boats, working harbors, and the whole atmosphere just spoke to me. I'd also spent a couple of years working in commercial scallop fishing, so those hardworking boats and waterfronts already felt familiar.

I've returned to Stonington four times since that first visit.

I've never lived in New England, but you'd never know it from some of my paintings. Those coastal scenes keep finding their way into my work, even after all these years.

Some places just get under your skin.

Stonington is one of mine.

Stick Around

Explore the paintings, grab an original, or dig into the lessons if you're ready to loosen up your own work.

Around here, we experiment, make mistakes, and occasionally create something worth hanging on the wall.

No perfect paintings required.

Pull up a chair, slacker. There's plenty of paint to sling.

— Robert