Lily Pad Gallery | Artist of the Week

Artist of the Week 27

Kathy Jones

Greatly influenced by the environment California has provided her during her formational years as an artist, Kathy Jones emphasizes the fact that growing up in San Francisco has greatly influenced the type of work she is able to create. Educated at Stanford University, Jones paired her innate artistic abilities with influence from formal scholars.

Similar to other bay area figure painter, Kathy Jones typically paints individuals at a specific time and place, she describe as a “moment between actions.” Jones further explains, “I paint people waiting, or gazing, or pausing, or moving from one place to another.” It is these moments that an individual shares with themselves that create such intriguing and mysterious imagery.

Great detail is put into the textured surface of each one of Jones’ paintings. She explains her process as a delicate balance between color relationships and unexpected juxtapositions. Jones further describes her technique, “I pull color up- push them one against the other and look for places where the colors make the most of each other.” Jones does not try to control what each painting turns into, she allows the artwork to transform and define itself as she continues to add and subtract paint from the canvas.

Kathy Jones | Green Hills | oil | 20 x 10

Jones aims to create paintings that are challenging and provocative to the viewer, asking individuals to look further into her imagery. “My hope is that people who see my work are moved to bring their own history to the painting and to tell their own stories.”

Kathy Jones is an educator as well as a studio artist, having held positions at Cairo American School (Cairo, Egypt), Laguna Beach School of Art and Design (Laguna Beach, CA), El Dorado School (Orange, CA), the University of California at Irvine, and Georgetown University. Jones has had her work shown across the country.