We recently connected with Jane Jones and have shared our conversation below.
Jane, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
As a child and young adult, I traveled all of Colorado with my grandparents. They loved to camp and fish, and I loved tagging along. Throughout those many 100’s of miles they taught me the beauty of nature, sometimes through grand vistas, and sometimes through the details of fish and flowers. They taught me to really see it.
Then when I was in my late 20’s I spent some time working with fabricators in Haiti. I was doing contract design work and that is where they did their development of products. During several trips there I met wonderful people, who were cheerful and lovely even though they were starving every day. I also learned about poverty and the appropriation of the very best real estate by Americans to live, and to feed livestock, instead of the land feeding the people. That changed me.
After I got home from one of the visits there, I came across a book that was pivotal for me, called Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe. From it I learned many things, but most of all I learned about world food politics, and land use for food, and that plants are the basis of all life on this planet.
Fast-forward a few years when I was in art school. One of my teachers, who became a mentor, always said to paint the ideas that you feel the most passionate about and paint them like you are yelling for “help”.
So, when I was out on my own as an artist, and trying to figure out who I was as an artist and what I wanted to communicate, it was obvious to me that expressing the value, beauty, and fragility of nature and flowering plants would be my purpose. After several decades as an artist, that is still my purpose.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Being an artist isn’t only a career, it’s who I am and how I live and think. It’s a really interesting journey. And now I am in the best part of it. I am established, pretty well known, and have incredible gallery people and collectors that I get to work with! The early years were good, as I was learning how to paint, and who to work with, but there were also some fairly icky experiences too. I don’t get those anymore!
Our gardens grow most of the flowers that I paint, I love working with them and watching them emerge and grow and present me with so many ideas to paint! They are my inspiration. I love that my home and gardens are integrated so completely with what I do. I get to communicate about this grand planet, its beauty, fragility, and power, every day. I spend my days with ideas that come from my flowers and from the Great Muses, whoever they are. This is the deliciously wonderful “good part” in my life and career.
Twenty-five of my paintings with messages about the Climate Crisis recently returned from a six-venue traveling museum tour, and are part of a solo show at Bonner David Galleries in Scottsdale, AZ. The opening reception was January 4, and I still feel so special and sparkly from that evening!
I also have a few new paintings at Saks Galleries in Cherry Creek. While I painted for the museum show and a solo New York show they have been so patient waiting for new work, and that is where my next few paintings will be going.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Courage, Tenacity, and Patience are the three qualities that have been imperative as I have navigated my art career. People tend to think that artist’s lives are just like they are portrayed in films and television. That is no more true than the lives of the characters, and living spaces on Friends. Artists who make it through the long haul and at least mostly support themselves are intelligent, resourceful, good business people which includes being reliable, and punctual, and completely focused on what they have going on in the studio. This does not include a lot of drama, or going to coffee or lunch every day. The successful artists that I know work a lot and really hard.
When I was in art school my teachers said that art as a career would be the hardest work we could imagine. I blew that off because I came from a self-employed family, where we all worked in the business, sometimes long and tiring hours. I was wrong. This is self-employment without a sure audience or sales for the product! It requires a commitment from the artist, as well as anyone close in their lives.
It takes courage to keep making art when you haven’t had the success that you were hoping for. Tenacity is necessary just to keep you going when “the muses” aren’t showing up. And all of it requires patience with gallery and show people, deadlines, and especially with oneself when you want to make better and more art, or any art at all!
Michelangelo said something along the lines of every artist faces the chasm between what they envision, and what they create. The only way to narrow that chasm is to intelligently and mindfully work every day and be patient with how slowly that chasm narrows.
My advice to anyone who wants to make a living in the arts is to pick the people in your life very carefully as you will need their support, have a specific place to work without distractions, and work there every day. Know that luck and opportunity favor the prepared, and get your work, whatever it is, in front of other people. And then put on some armor for some of the comments, especially from people who know nothing about what you are doing. You will need a thick skin, and at the same time preserve the sensitivity that brought you to the arts and allows you to create.
Know that in the long, long run, it WILL BE WORTH IT and will bring you satisfaction and joy that you cannot imagine at the beginning!
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
There are many important things that my parents taught me, especially as self-employed people, such as commitment, ethics, and willingness to work really hard. But more importantly they taught me that I can do anything that I commit to, but it might take a huge commitment of body, mind and soul. But IF I want it enough, I can make anything happen. That was a bit optimistic, but for a girl raised in the 1950’s and 60’s it was pretty audacious. They never mentioned that because I am female there would be some huge obstacles, they just said that I could do whatever I wanted….and I have. You have to absolutely believe in your mission or purpose (write it down and refer to it often) and follow what that voice inside you says, no matter what others tell you. As Muhammad Ali said, “Impossible is not a fact, it’s an opinion”.
Contact Info:
- Website: janejonesartist.com
- Facebook: Jane Jones Artist
Image Credits
John Gaddis (my husband)
