New Collection: Made for Joy

Creative Process

Jan 17

Welcome to the new energy of 2026. I’m releasing my first official collection of the year called Made for Joy. These are the first abstract paintings I made from 2023-2025 as I began to release disappointment and doubt in my life and decided to step into who I was made to be—a creator in all forms.

This collection is about exploring the liminal spaces between suffering and joy, how the depths of sorrow can be illuminated by the light.

Pursuing my art full-time this year has been a new, scary, and exciting adventure! But I’m so glad I did because I’ve been able to step back and really have an honest assessment of my life: what I want to do and where I want to go.

The heart behind joy

Joy illuminates places of great darkness and shadow.

I believe grief, disappointment, and suffering can coexist with joy all at once. You can’t have a full understanding of joy without tasting true sorrow. That’s the heart behind a lot of these works—there is a brightness in them, but a somber reminder that God doesn’t forget the pains we walk through. He doesn’t erase our past. But He brings beauty from ashes, joy where there has been mourning. Light and dark can come together and make something beautiful.

The collection

Each piece comes with a unique poem about the heart of the composition and a certificate of authenticity. Some are framed, and some are not, ranging from canvas to paper. Here are some of my favorites:

Dreamscape

Where do we go when we sleep? Who do we become when our eyes shut? This painting is for the dreamers, those who escape into places more real at night than the day. A combination of a watercolor gouache background with oil markings overlaying, this painting changes sheen from glossy to matte, depending on the light’s reflection.

Made for Joy

This was the first abstract painting I worked on in my collection, centered on discovering joy. I started experimenting with raw canvas and gouache, finding a medium that seemed to express my internal workings. In a dark season, I asked God why He made me, and I felt Him say, you were made for joy. This painting kicked off that series and my start to exploring what “joy” really is.

Mirage

“It’s not a mirage,” is a phrase that’s been surfacing in my dreams. I became fascinated with the naturally occurring mirages in nature—how our eyes interpret what is real and false around us. When I think of a mirage, I think of swirling clouds of light interacting with our eyes in the middle of a barren desert. This painting is mostly acrylic with a high-gloss varnish on textured canvas.

Upcoming works

Thanks to everyone who has come along this journey with me as I step into new seasons of color, light, and joy. If you’re interested in collecting any of these pieces, check out the collection page.

Every month this year, I’ll be releasing a new collection. Email subscribers will be the first to know about what’s upcoming, so be sure to sign up!

Next month, I’ll be releasing a mini Valentine’s Day collection. Oh la la! Stay tuned!

Painting

Elise Lakey