Nicholas Jones was born in Bristol in 1965. He studied Fine Art at Bristol Polytechnic where he developed a deep appreciation of Samuel Palmer and a concern for luminosity. For three years he then worked almost exclusively in the medium of stained glass. In 1990, however, he returned to painting and in the space of twelve months began to discover his own artistic identity, working with a sudden confidence, intensity and independence. It was at this time that he first met Andras Kalman and his paintings have featured frequently in the gallery ever since. Crane Kalman Gallery have mounted seven solo exhibitions of his work since 2000.
Landscape, abstraction, colour and light have long been the dominant themes of Jones’ painting. Taking inspiration from the countryside around his Somerset home, from visits to the Lake District and Scotland and dreams of places further afield, he has sought to evoke the world of nature, of hills, mountains, water, skies, trees, and above all, light.
Over time these ‘abstracted landscapes’ have slowly become more simplified - increasingly pure celebrations of colour and light. In recent years Jones has made a number of visits to Finnish Lapland where he feels that he has found the landscape that he has been dreaming of and painting for many years. His most recent work has been a response to the arctic night and an attempt to evoke the astonishing other-worldly beauty of the Aurora Borealis.
In 2018 Jones was appointed as Arctic Artist in Residence with the Friends of the Scott Polar Research Institute. During the residency (sponsored by Bonhams and One Ocean Expeditions) he was able to immerse himself in the light and landscape of western Greenland and Baffin Island. He was fascinated by how in the Arctic such a rich and varied beauty can be created from the simplest of elements: ice, rock, water and light. Since his return Jones has produced over fifty paintings, two of which hang in this year’s Summer Exhibition.
Nicholas Jones is married to Jane Blazeby, a professor of surgery in Bristol. They have three children.