Joyce Lake — islander, self-taught artist, author
Joyce Lake is a self-taught artist who said she fell in love with the colors, the birds, the animals and, in general, the flavors of Florida. Shortly after her arrival 17 years ago, she became a member of the Pine Island Art Association. In addition to creating her note cards and paintings, Lake has written and illustrated four children’s books. Although she does not consider herself a writer, inspiration hit her to teach by writing for children and combining those teachings with original illustrations.
“I was sitting in the house one day and the frogs were croaking outside because it was raining and I had a little inspiration, I guess you’d call it. I started thinking, what would a frog do if he was out there singing away like that?” Lake said.
She decided to write a brief outline, she said, and began painting the story. It wasn’t long before “A Frog Named Fred” was born, which was the first of the children’s books she has written and fully illustrated.
A printer put the book together for her with a spiral binding, and Lake said people began buying it. Soon after, the mother of a bookstore owner noticed and fell in love with Lake’s book and her daughter began carrying the book and selling it for her, after connecting Lake with Happy Dolphin Press, which transformed the book from it’s original binding to book form. Now she said she writes the stories and sends them the pictures.
“The other stories just kind of came along. What I do in my books is tell a story and teach,” Lake said.
In “A Frog Named Fred,” colors are taught by using the coordinating color to go with the word, Lake explained, saying it is her aim to keep the basic premise simple. At the end of the books, she includes a page of fun facts, such as a listing of all the different sea turtles or animal sanctuaries.
While three of her finished books were stories Lake created, her book, “Bubbles Journey,” she said, is the true story of a pigeon who got caught in a storm, landed on a boat and traveled all the way to Pine Island, to get nursed back to health, before heading back to Cuba.
Lake also collects sea glass to make sea glass jewelry, which she has sold in galleries. Presenting her work at Koucky’s monthly Craft Guild and the Garden Club Gala, in addition to her membership at Pine Island Art Association, and the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda, keeps Lake creating, selling and meeting new friends pretty consistently.
Lake also currently serves as a junior vice president on the board of the Pine Island VFW Post 4353, where she has served for well over a decade, and her husband, David Lake, has been a local shrimper on Pine Island for over 40 years.