Joyce was a distinguished artist and printmaker. A recipient of the Triennial Prize for Graphic Arts, Haifa Museum, she exhibited widely on four continents and her works are included in the permanent collections of major museums in Israel and the United States. She was born in Los Angeles in 1941 and received an M.A. in Fine Arts from the University of California-Los Angeles in 1965. She settled in Israel in 1969, where she taught printmaking at the Visual Arts Center, Beersheva. The images, textures, colors, and light of the Negev desert around Beersheva had a new, profound effect on Joyce and she sought ways to capture and transmit these qualities in her art. It was not until she studied with Douglass Morse Howell in Locust Valley, New York, on a sabbatical year in 1978, that she found a new medium of visual expression in handmade paper. Joyce later wrote of the desert: Dust dominates. The ground permeates the air, settling over surfaces intended to conceal it. Through the ground-filled light and the light-filled ground, images emerge. What would be an empty lot anywhere else is full here. Though the Negev may seem blank, it contains no neutral space. Like paper. Paper was the key to translating the vision and image, and Howell's use of linen and flax introduced Joyce to what she referred to as a "strength and body I had not previously seen in papers." She returned to Beersheva and established the Mill. In her paperworks, there is evidence of the process which formed them. The raw material has been broken down to its simplest elements, and then the fibers are recombined so that the content stems directly from the papermaking procedure. The paper undergoes a series of manipulations---sometimes folding, sometimes pressing, sometimes printing, sometimes encapsulating foreign bodies or plant parts in the wet pulp. But the artistic vision is always completely intertwined with the process itself. Although Joyce always insisted that the Mill was a joint venture, she was the idea and spirit behind it. The initial support, advice, and encouragement came from Dr. Robert L. Leslie of Brooklyn, and the strength of Joyce's personality was able to attract a wonderful team who all contributed their expertise freely. Allan Witztum, professor of botany, first suggested using mitnan, a member of the Thymelaeaceae family which grows abundantly in the Negev desert, as a fiber source; the resulting luminous paper became the trademark of the Mill. Meir Bar-Ad built and maintained the equipment. Chava Pressburger, a professional artist, took over the teaching duties in recent years. There are classes for "kids" taught by Laura Behar, who published a book on papermaking for children with Randy Bass. Hanoch Zagarinsky offered his chemical expertise. Rivka Kuznietz and Ruth Ermosa assisted in teaching and everything else, and many others made contributions, great and small, over the years. Joyce was as proud as a mother hen that two of her students had gone to Japan for further study in papermaking, and had both returned to start their own mills: Izhar Neuman at Zichron Yaakov, near Haifa, and Natan Kaaren at his kibbutz, Sde Yoav, in the Negev. Their papers get better and better all the time and, like true craftsmen, theirs is a constant striving for improvement and excellence. This made Joyce feel that there would be a continuity in the production of handmade sheets using a variety of local as well as imported plants and fibers. A profoundly private person, Joyce at the same time exuded a warmth and empathy for others which made anyone who had contact with her feel she was their special friend. She made everyone feel important and wanted, from the professionally accomplished to those in relatively menial jobs. She encouraged the janitor to try his hand at papermaking and create artworks, which he ultimately came to do with skill and seriousness, and she delighted in the Bedouin gardener's pruning in the paper garden at the Mill's entrance so that he too knew his contribution was appreciated and prized. Joyce's vision of the Mill was threefold. First, it was a place for the production of fine, quality handmade sheets. She understood that this required a detailed knowledge of the technical aspects of papermaking, from a choice of high-quality raw materials, methods of pulping, formation of even, consistent sheets, sizing, drying, and achieving a finish to meet the demands of the customer. Beyond production itself, attention is paid to various aspects of conservation, the qualities and conditions which will prolong the life and character of the paper produced. Secondly, the Mill was to serve the artist in his creative endeavors by making studio space and technical assistance available. Joyce firmly believed that the artist would never achieve his vision or enjoy complete control of his medium without understanding the papermaking process through all its stages. Thirdly, and closely related to the first two areas, was the educational, didactic role of the Mill. Papermaking courses are offered which include a historic overview of the development of papermaking from pre-paper (papyrus, tapa, amate), the differences between Eastern, Islamic, and Western raw materials, tools, and techniques, and the gradual mechanization of the process. Sessions on botany, chemistry, sizing, and conservation are offered. Students visit the studio of an artist who uses traditional Japanese wood-block printing techniques, as well as a modern, commercial paper mill. Joyce arranged advanced courses, special workshops, and, with Dr. Leslie's help, brought experts like Tim Barrett, Winifred Lutz, Lilian Bell, Elaine Koretsky, and the late Hans Schmoller to Beersheva. She opened sessions at these conferences to the general public, and generally made the people of Israel aware of the world of hand papermaking. Besides her contacts with Western papermakers, Joyce visited Egypt, Japan, and China. She researched the previous uses of mitnan and studied the properties which made it a suitable fiber for papermaking. We at the Mill feel the loss of this gentle and wise friend deeply. She was much loved. May her memory be blessed.
