Artistic Couple: Jeff and Jaky Felix create art together

The Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation is hosting the 19th annual Festival of the Arts at the MKAF Cultural Arts Village, October 25-26. The festival will feature 100 visual artists and The Log will be featuring select artists in the weeks leading up to the event.

Jeff and Jaky Felix are a dynamic husband and wife artistic team. Together they produce brightly colored, whimsical fused glass sculptures under the name, Joyful Imaginations.

The Felix’s met in Malaysia; Jeff was a professional musician and Jaky a designer for a golf-course company.

“When we met, we had no idea that we would end up living in the U.S.A. and working as glass artists,” said Jaky. “We met in Malaysia when I was visiting my sister's family. Malaysia was very exotic to a country girl from Alabama. I loved it so much that I decided to stay and work there.”

Jaky told The Log that growing up; both she and her husband were attracted to the arts.

“I studied drafting and design in technical school, which was my way of channeling my creative tendencies into a more accepted career,” she said. “And Jeff was a professional musician from a very young age in Malaysia.”

When the couple moved to the United States, eight years after marriage, they decided to pursue art together.

“We tried different kinds of art, until we both discovered a love for glass,” she said. “We bought a lot of books and a kiln, and started experimenting.”

Now the two have found their rhythm creating their own technique of fused glass artwork. Often inspired by Asian designs, and seascapes the couple forms colorful sea creatures as well as abstract sculptures, clocks and bowls.

“We love it. We feed off each other's ideas and collaborate on colors and designs. We inspire each other,” said Jeff. “We take our inspiration from color and nature. I also think that our work has unintentional ethnic influences from our love of South East Asia.”

 The Felix’s have been featured in the MKAF Festival of the Arts for many years, and said that the show favorite is surprisingly not sea creatures, but their clocks.

“We really enjoy the festival and the area,” said Jeff. “Our clocks are our best seller and our signature is our bright color scheme and metallic details.”