Joy studied painting at the Kingston School of Art.
She was once described as a ‘jobbing artist’ - a characterisation she feels at home with - having made a living through her artistic practices since leaving school nearly 60 years ago. Many of her jobs were found in the British film and television industry, which included modelling, illustrations, designing and building (miniature) sets, and matte paintings for works such as Thunderbirds, She, Fahrenheit 451, Family Life, Like Other People, Elizabethans Image, Mackenna’s Gold, and The Rumanian Brancusi, among other projects. As special effects department assistant on Stanley Kubrick’s science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey Joy produced moonscape table-top models for the film, which were celebrated for their accuracy and realism.