Joell in her studio Back to FCP
Joell in her studio
Joell Jones: Joell's husband says "She’s never played any of my games. That's probably why we get along so well." While she is interested in contributing to the development of the games, she is more interested in nature and consciousness than technology. Joell was born in Louisiana. As a child, she was given big pads of newsprint instead of coloring books. Her mother, Luci, was very supportive of her artwork. Both her mother and grandmother had artistic talent. As early as two years of age she identified herself as an artist. She made artwork that was realistic, copying nature and its forms with precision. Her father, Reps, a chemical engineer and naturalist, taught her about nature and natural phenomena.
In 1970 she received her B.A. and was accepted into LSU's graduate program in fine art, but she moved from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. In 1973 she moved to Oakland, California. Her art practice, mainly for her own experience, continued to be the major motivating factor in her life. In 1984 she received her M.A., with emphasis on creative process, from JFK University in Orinda, California.
The Oakland Hills Fire of October 1991 destroyed Joell's home and studio and all of her existing work that had not been sold or collected. The devastation of the fire, that she and her family narrowly escaped, translated into new work in the studio of her new home. She began to let go of the controlled style she had developed with the Firestorm Series and became engaged with her work as a voice of hope and healing in her community.
 |
 |
Cassidy (right) with her Robotwars team "Robot Action League" (left)
Cassidy Wright: Cassidy was born in 1986 and shares her father's interest in technology and her mother's in fine art and community. Will has implemented Cassidy's suggestions for his games since she was five, when she requested an option for frogs to rule the planet in "SimEarth." When her dad was going to add something to The Sims, the first person he talked to was Cassidy. She looked at what was going into the game and gave it a thumbs up if she thought it was cool or a thumbs down if it was a stinker. She and Joell are the reason The Sims are about family life rather than work life. "What is interesting is the people, not what they do for a living," she says.
Cassidy has a great sense of humor, giving her robot creations such names as "Kitty Puff Puff," "Misty the WonderBot," and "ChiaBot," instead of the menacing names of their competitors, "Battle Scar" and "Dawn of Destruction."
Other hobby's of Cassidy are karate, and drawing. "Drawing comic books might be fun (I sure read enough of them), but I'm really too much of a procrastinator to write monthly issues of anything." She also likes to travel and is currently attending California College of Art. Cassidy appreciates Japanese anime and has sparked her parnets interest in anime and manga.
Will Wright with
Cassidy in 1988
Will Wright about family: "You gain a different sense of the value of time when you have a child. You know, they grow up. And either you spend time with them now or you don't, and that time will pass and never come back again. So it tends to make you think more closely about it."
Back to FCP