Joey Rice is an Ocean Springs native! She is a lover of plants, clouds, friends and good food! And she happens to be one of our favorite people on the planet!  We were so lucky to have her work in the shop this past April, and while this post is a bit late, better late than never! And we thought you should get a chance to get to know her a little better!   

Quick background (experience, schooling, mistakes, for the wins, etc.) on how you came to be.

I have  a degree in art but like most things, the really important things don't come from the classroom but from experience.

If you didn’t make art, what would you be when you grow up?

Some kind of wordsmith,  or maybe a particle physicist, which I can only spell with help.......

If you were to make one of the Greenhouse biscuits out of paper, what would it be?  

Well, of course your biscuits are so light and other worldly, maybe a nebula of lots of tiny biscuits.

What is your favorite de-stress snack when you’re in the middle of a making marathon?

Okay, so if things are going really well...coffee and if not so well....I figure a beer might help.  Do you begin to see why I love the Greenhouse???

Your work is incredible and sensitive… What is the relationship you have with work?

I am one lucky person to be able to do what I love.  And I love to think about color and light, I am simply grateful to make things and I'm constantly amazed when others enjoy them too.

You have been working with clouds for a while now, so obviously you are drawn to them...if you could live on a cloud what kind would it be and what would your cloud space look like?  

Love these questions!  Sometimes my cloud would be fluffy and float serenely and some times it would be that lavender grey and heavy, looking for a parade...change that to a Trump rally, to rain on.

You are an amazing gardener, tell us about your plants and the inspiration they provide for your work.

I keep planting Gingko seeds put they never are really never Gingko trees when they grow up, why is that?  I do grow things like papyrus and cast iron plant for their beautiful fiber in handmade paper.
 

For the greenhouse you went tiny!  How was it different working in a tiny space instead of the massive expanse the clouds usually deserve?

The Greenhouse and the people who run it have given and worked so hard at what they do, they have provided a space where all sorts belong.  I wanted to be a tiny part of that and those little clouds were my way of joining in.  They practically jumped out of the vat.

On a scale of 1-10, How good are you at cloudbursting with your mind?

Hmmm, cloudbursting ...well, just schedule an opening for my work and it's sure to rain. Ages ago I had a big show in New Orleans and they had to change the date because of a hurricane.