About the Artist
Jonathan is a self taught artist from rural South Carolina. He began painting and drawing as a child and learned to custom frame pictures from his father. Painting remained a hobby until 2012, when he was managing a small antique shop. He began displaying his paintings to fill the empty walls of the building and was surprised to find that customers took interest. Encouraged by these early successes, he began to spend more time painting and it quickly became an important part of his life.
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In lieu of formal academic training, Jonathan’s art education was found in a decade of rigorous practice and experimentation. Taking to the field like the great French Impressionists, he studied the effect of light and the changing seasons by painting en plein air in the fields, swamps, and forests of the Carolinas. He attended art fairs throughout the Carolinas and eventually secured placement in several galleries and businesses throughout the region. His antique shop became the only art gallery in the region from 2016-2018 and now serves as a framing and interior design business as well as his studio.
Having focused primarily on oil painting for the past seven years, Jonathan also paints in watercolors, carves traditional woodcuts for printmaking, sketches often in charcoal and graphite, and uses modern 3D rendering and AI software for conceptual studies. When he isn’t painting, Jonathan enjoys playing the violin and writing poetry.
Artist's Statement
My work is an archive of my personal impressions of the world around me. I try to approach my imagery impartially, painting what I see without attaching labels to the objects. I paint the rural southern landscape with an understanding of my presence as an observer; as a shadow on the land. When painting outdoors I often intentionally omit the shadow cast by myself and my easel, preferring to imagine myself as part of the landscape and otherwise invisible. In the studio, I try to listen to the subjects and let them tell me what they want to be instead of trying to force them to conform to my expectations.
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I didn't begin painting until adulthood, but I've had a lifelong fascination with illustration and animation. The simplicity of form seen in cartoons and anime inspired me to draw comic illustrations as a child. I only shared them with close friends, and threw them away before starting another. These childhood sketches of funny little characters were a sort of initiation into the mysteries of fine art. It was only after a decade of practice that I realized the importance of using those same broad cartoonish gestures in my studio paintings.
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When I first began painting, I would sit quietly at a desk. I sat like a student, and I strove to match lines and colors with tiny brushes. Over time I learned to slide my chair further back and hold my brushes a bit more loosely. Now I always paint standing, and do my best work when I can sort of dance around the canvas. I impart as much motion from my entire body as possible, and allow that mysterious inner composure to help steady my lines. My best work often comes through permitting myself to be mischievous and to treat the painting with polite disdain.
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When I actively engage with self expression in my personal projects, I draw on archetypal imagery. I often take inspiration from my memories and dreams, weaving the symbols into other subjects in order to convey a richer emotional meaning. With due appreciation for the ability of vision to transcend material understanding, and the power of color and tone to speak louder than words, I paint to share my understanding of the world. Whatever subject I choose to represent, however abstractly, I hold paramount the effect of the image on the viewer and my role in translating it.
