33rd Annual All Florida Juried Art Show - Juror's Talk with Gregory Jones
Saturday, January 13, 2024 | 11AM
Gregory Jones. Juror
Lecture Statement:
How a path through the woods as a child has become a journey of discovery with God through art, therapy, and enlightenment.
Artist Statement:
To reach inside and free the creative child within each of us is basically what my art is about. I might begin with a used air conditioner filter as in “Dust to Dust” or a bright red cloth tie as in “Man Under Paints With Red Tie”, but from that point I seldom know what direction the work will take. I simply “follow paths through the woods” as I did as a child growing up near the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I played in the mud a lot, then grew up and played in the muddy paint a lot. When I played I learned that some good things sometimes happened. Then I learned that I could get the good things that happened to grow like a plant until the whole canvas would sometimes be a good thing.
It is probably from dust that we come and to dust that we go, but in between there is growth. When all is said and done, how much we have grown determines the richness of the soil we leave on which others will trod. From the muddy mess I often make in art and life is born the lesson of humility and discovery.
The idealism of my youth and the realism of adult life run head-on in my work to form an expression that merges seriousness with playfulness and superficiality with depth. Somewhere inside that depth is an innocent child, a very good person who can touch nature, and when I visit with him (or her) I learn to love, to fly, to live. To this day it is that sincere, sensitive child seeing and feeling nature that my art echoes and that moves my spirit to create my mixed media “layered” paintings. I only wish there were more days when he could come out to play.
Free and open to the public. Registration required for in person attendance.
Lecture will be recorded and shared on MartinArts website and YouTube channel.
