Hello

Hi 👋! My name is Josalyn Wilder, but my little artists call me Ms. Josalyn. I’m so happy you’re here, in fact it’s making me smile to even write this to you. I’m excited that you’re interested in being part of our Just Happy Art Makers community. Our goal here is all about Smiling + Making Art Together, because I think the combination feels …“Just Happy”! It certainly seems like a pretty awesome combination when you think of it. And somewhere along the way, I’ve heard that smiling is contagious, so I thought - well, we need to make More Smiles + More Art in this world! So, I hope that having your child in my classes, events, and parties will spread smiles while we have fun making art together!

Serving the Capital District, NY.

SMILE MAKER + FOUNDER

Just in case you wanted to know a little more about me:

  • My favorite color is pink but rainbows and sparkly things light up my eyes.

  • Making art makes me Happy and Smile!

  • I eat handfuls of chocolate chips everyday, drink coffee everyday, eat vegetables everyday and take my vitamins everyday.

  • I don’t like ironing.

  • When I was about 5 yrs old I drew a bunch of pictures, added prices in crayon, piled them in my wagon and walked door to door selling my art. That was until a neighbor called my Mom to say I was selling my drawings to the neighborhood. Yes, I got in trouble but I SOLD art!

  • I’ve been painting for over 10 years, and have had super fun gallery shows, even in a movie theater!  

  • My art is on an album cover for a really cool band!

  • Over the past few years, I’ve focused on digital drawing because I love being cozy using my iPad.

  • I’m a Mom to a very tall teenage boy, and when we walk together people think I’m the kid.

  • I think you can see someone’s smile inside their eyes.

  • I wish we could ride unicorns instead of cars.

  • My love of art supplies started when I was little and my Dad worked in a mailroom. I loved going to work with him because they had shelves of sharpies, highlighters, pencils, pens, paper…and then I discovered the Magical office Xerox machine! This was the 80s! My goal was to photocopy my scribbles from 9-5 when we took me to work! Glad he didn’t fired.

  • Currently I don’t have any pets, but I usually name all of my cats Gina. 

  • I love playing the board game Clue but my family won’t play with me anymore, because I always win. Want to play?

  • Favorite quote: “The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it's all that matters.” - Audrey Hepburn

Just Happy Art Makers is all about spreading smiles by making art together for little kids, big kids, and families. Join Ms. Josalyn for specialized classes, pop-ups, and family art workshops. She believes that every child is an artist ready to be encouraged and inspired to flourish creatively. Josalyn has been a Children’s Librarian for almost 20 years who teaches a variety of creative programs to all ages. She holds a BA in Fine Arts, AAS in Accessories Design, Certification in School Library Media and a Masters in Library Science. With years of experience creating programs for kids, she has observed that if children are given the opportunity to express themselves in the visual arts they undoubtedly discover their confidence, creativity, and feel inspired to make more art! She believes that we should put everything aside as grownups and show kids that being creative is a powerful tool to have in your tool belt to pull out when you need it in your life. Josalyn decided to create Just Art Happy Makers to give kids and families the creative tools they need to make smiles and art together! 

Keep Smiling :)

Get your daily dose of art and smiles over @justhappyartmakers!