Well the photo is of me and my  husband Richard  we got married at Holy Trinity Church Idle Bradford on the 30th June 2001.

We both live in Bradford near the Yorkshire Dales and spend time in the dales whenever we can.  Myself to sketch the local countryside and Richard to read and relax.

6 years  ago I passed a degree (BA) in art and art history with computers combined.  I also taught as a dyslexic advisor in use of computer software for a time at the college where I studied.

In October 2001 I was ordained which gave me the title Reverend Joy Gartside, this for me was a great achievement because I did a lot of study and being dyslexic found it quite hard going.  Most of the work I do in this capacity I do on the net as unfortunately my ill health prevents me from running a church at the moment.

I hopefully will be able to continue setting up my web pages on help for young (and not so young) Christians and those seeking answers in the Christian faith.  If you wish to visit these embryonic pages please visit my links page where you will find all the sites I manage and a few more.  Unfortunately I suffer alot with ill health and cannot work on them continually as much as I would like.

I am 42 and have been a Christian for 20 years or thereabouts currently I attend to a Church of England church, when my health permits, that encourages members to be free in their expression towards Jesus. 

I love Jesus very much and I know that my life would be very empty without him he has blessed me so much throughout the years and I hope to share some of these blessings with you in poetry and wisdom.

Recently I brought myself four indian stick insects now up to date I have around 300 of various species which I exhibit at shows I also take my paintings to these shows and exhibit them to if Im really lucky I sell them as well.  The stick insects and associated work has taken up quite a large part of my life and have also enabled me to set up a site for viewing (and selling) my work.  I have started writing articles for the Phasmid magazine of the PSG (Phasmid Studies Group) the most recent of which was about evolution and other theories.   If you visit the hobby pages you will see a couple of pictures of these enchanting creatures.  I also moved into keeping other insects and currently I have a few mantids and quite a lot of caterpillars.  We acquired 2 gerbils, Didi and Diggory,  a short time ago and they bring a lot of joy into our lives but the pet that probably brings most joy and most disruption is Purrdy the cat. 

Finally many thanx to Richard the man I love, the link to his page is below, (hint hint).  Who encouraged me to finally take the steps to create this site for you to see