Jim Jones

Mostly I draw or paint what I see, although imaginary spaces, colors or objects occasionally make themselves felt on the scene. There is a “magic” in the real which can be known in the present. Only in the present can one feel the intimacy of the magic which exists between oneself and the world—its spaces, people, plants, animals, animate and inanimate objects. I paint and draw to be captured by my “present”—intimate, at times in love with what surrounds me or captures my eye. The process always rewards me with moments of present magic. Being “present” offers its own reward—a timelessness which takes one out of the urgencies of past and future. The intimacy felt between what one is seeing and oneself, connects one to the all. What a wonderful gift the process of art offers—an intimate, all encompassing present in which to dwell, reflect, record and share with others, the magic of reality—the sensuousness of a moment in or our of time. The blessedness of work.

Sometimes, the magic resides in the spaces between the object. At other times, color and shape command the attention and occasionally, ephemeral emotion such as humor or pain provide the focus. The point where one can step into the magic of the real. Art is not a noun—but a verb.