Alpheus Jones Links Tropical and Local Landscapes

Alpheus Jones pauses while working on a tropical landscape oil painting.

[My Recent column in the News Advertiser featuring Alpheus Jones]

Recently, painter, Alpheus Jones returned to his native Bahamas to reconnect with his beloved and root landscape: the lush tropical flora and turquoise-hued waters of the Caribbean. He did some “en plein air” (in the open air) sketching and shot photographs; and also took the opportunity to connect with the largest gallery in Nassau to discuss the showing of some of his works. Interestingly, when talking about his art, he speaks about the landscape of his adopted country: the verdant foliage and the multi-coloured water surfaces of rural Ontario where he has travelled and painted extensively, with the same kind of passion he maintains for those distant tropical vistas. And he talks glowingly and expansively about the immediacy, the capturing of the moment, the great teaching that working out-of-doors brings to the plein air artist.

Although he had no specific art training in his youth, Jones credits rubbing shoulders with international and local artists and watching them working on location and in their studios for inspiring him to teach himself how to paint. And having young contemporaries go off to study in Canada (at OCAD in Toronto) and to the Artist League in New York was important in opening him up to the idea of widening his horizons and locating himself in other landscapes.

Making a living outside of art -- the conundrum for all creative souls – has forced him to train and work in various insurance and financial positions over the years and he continues that to the present, offering accounting and tax services from his home in the Frenchman’s Bay area of Pickering. Here he maintains a home studio where he finishes off some of his plein air pieces and works up studio paintings from reference photography.

Jones has shown extensively in solo and group shows across Ontario and is presently working towards a major exhibition in a yet-to-be-determined venue in Durham Region. He will be following the muse of his ongoing affection for water surfaces and treed landscapes, but will also include small-town themes in which he, increasingly portrays local figures strolling past the “lived-in” strips of houses and businesses.

Find examples of Alpheus Jones’ paintings and show and contact information at www.alpheusjones.com

Allan O’Marra is a professional artist living and working in Ajax. For contact information go to www.allanomarra.com