JO2

Call

Jonathan exemplifies Picasso’s adage that every child is an artist and that the problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. About age nine he felt he was ‘no good’ at art, so he stopped. 60 years later, after a career in community development in Africa, he took a portraiture class and was quickly hooked on that magic moment when marks on paper come together as a face. After sketching a thousand human faces, Jonathan broadened his focus to include portraits of pets and wildlife, and added color by switching to pastels.

 

Jonathan welcomes commission requests for any species: golden retrievers to grandkids. He also is working on a series called ‘endangered kin’ to portray dozens of our fellow primates whose habitats are shrinking. Jonathan’s hard-earned wisdom on to how to remain/become an artist as a grown-up is to keep painting until you like what you see. And he embraces Picasso’s observation that it may take a very long time to become young.

View Artist's Work