"Breathe" is the personal mantra that Delta artist Linda Jones uses every single day. Jones is an award-winning Canadian artist who makes Ladner home.
She is self-taught and has over 30 years of professional experience working in acrylics, mixed media, encaustics and, more recently, oil. Her love for teaching started 28 years ago and in more recent years she has been an active member of Artists in the Village non-profit society and regular participant in Ladner's Grand Prix of Art.
You'll often see her riding her bicycle with paint gear in tow, and setting up down at the dock by Sharkey's to paint en plein air.
Jones loves being creative and it shows. Her local surroundings have played a huge part in her journey as an artist. In a recent interview, when asked how she continues to develop as an artist, Jones says, "For me to continue to create, I need my family, my friends, my community and paint." She finds inspiration in all sorts of things and it can be as simple as looking at the sunshine, a new photo, taking a trip or even trying out a new tube of paint or different brush.
Sparking her creativity involves many different processes depending on which medium she uses; she likes them all for different reasons. She uses acrylic paint because it dries quickly, is easy to achieve the look she wants and loves the vibrant colours.
Jones also works in encaustic, which is hot wax, and also finds this exciting, versatile and tactile, plus she likes to play with fire. Currently, she is working on improving her oil painting techniques; oils are fun to work with because they don't dry quickly and one can play with and blend it for a long time.
Jones' work can also be found in collections nationally and internationally. Painting and selling her work in galleries have been a dream and she has been fortunate enough to be accepted in some wonderful galleries. Jones tells us, however, there are challenges in selling one's work in galleries as clientele can differ from gallery to gallery.
She finds that commissions are wonderful and she loves to do them, but over the years has learned to "not do commissions without clear expectations and really good photos." She remembers that in one circumstance, she was asked to paint an old farmhouse with an 80-year-old photo. The trouble was the image was of the back of the house and they wanted her to paint the front! Jones says the art business has changed in the past 30 years and marketing now involves websites and social media. As far as the business aspect of art, she admits she dreads paper work.
Art shows have been another way for Jones to showcase her work and although they are a lot of fun, for the most part there aren't usually a lot of sales. Shows, Jones goes on to note, are a great way for artists to meet a lot of new people, keep in touch with those you haven't seen in a while, are a great place to gain commissions, and provide a place to show off the talent of her students.
She loves teaching and receives a lot of satisfaction by seeing the progression of her students, young and old.
Jones paints as a way of practicing self-care. She creates because it makes her heart sing and she admits she tends to get cranky if she doesn't.
She creates every single day, especially when she's not feeling well. What she loves most about her work is how it makes people feel and how it makes her feel. She has also discovered that she doesn't create well without enough sleep or when she is around negative people.
She continues to work on keeping her work fresh and original. With paintings taking anywhere from an hour to a month to create, she continues to be inspired by her local surroundings. Her favourite things to paint are water and portraits.
More recently, she is taking on dog portraits because she loves painting animals. She loves being an artist because she can work in her studio in her slippers.
"I am living my dream and I love my job," she proclaimed.
What does her future hold? A workshop in France one day. For now, she wants to continue with her plein air painting and master oils.
She encourages all of us to create and to do something creative every day.
"And," says Jones, "don't forget to breathe."
For more information, visit lindajonesstudio.com.
Meg Neufeld is a cultural anthropologist, practicing mixed-media artist and program director at Alongside You, a health organization that offers a multi-disciplinary approach to health.
Mary Ann Burrows is an artist and a creativity coach at Spark.
