Welsh artist Vernon Jones is gaining a reputation as one of the finest seascape artists working today. Vale Life met Vernon to find out what inspires him.
WAVELENGTH
Tell us about yourself
I was born in Pontypool and educated there, until leaving to study for an H.N.D. in Design/Wildlife Illustration at CCTA Gelli Aur, West Wales. I have lived and worked in different parts of the UK and I enjoy socialising and meeting new people, and discovering new concepts. Travel is also very important to me.
Please tell us about your art…
It’s an exploration of the sea, with land and sky elements included in the composition in most cases. It is a subject that I can relate to as, with most of us probably, fire can hold our gaze, so the sea and its various ‘moods’ does for me. I love the detail and the differing vistas, which I strive for in my work. It is important for me to balance all parts and elements, and in this way my painting becomes a problem solving exercise which I enjoy. But I also need to keep the motion of the sea, and this needs freedom. Control and freedom together must ‘feel’ balanced and in harmony with whatever is surrounding or next to any one part of the painting. The final composition, above all, must attain this feel of balance.
Have you a lifelong ambition?
I’d like to be successful in my work, and also in my life. It’s a mixture of what I want and what I need. What I want may not always be what I need. In this way I set myself goals.
What do you do to relax?
Cafés are a big favourite of mine. Just taking time to sit and relax with coffee or tea, by myself or with others. I also enjoy restaurants, walking and films. When I can, I try to get to the sea, get the wet suit on and show people how not to stay on your surf board! Its fun... I also love photographing the sea, and I’m always looking to build on my own reference library of interesting studies and compositions of the sea.
What’s the most memorable thing that’s happened to you?
I travelled to Norway via Finland a good many years ago, and found myself camping alone at the edge of a fjord. It was a still night, very peaceful with no one around and, for the first time, I saw what must have been the Northern Lights. I sat looking out to sea playing my bodhran, which is a type of drum, surrounded by this peace and nature. That was a beautiful place.
What’s your most challenging painting to date?
It was a commission not so long ago, which was from a gentleman who wanted me to paint a trolley bus with the view down St. Mary Street in Cardiff. It was very difficult to imagine the cables as I had no knowledge of the era and had to use pictorial references from the period to try to understand the layout! In the end I got it, and the client was very happy with the result.
You can view Vernon’s works at the following venues.
July Petrovac Na Moru, Montenegro
August Washington Gallery, Penarth,
October Galleria Micro, Torino, Italy
Vernon also welcomes commissioned pieces from individuals and companies.
