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Welcome to our Interviews and Insights page, where we share conversations with artists and creative thinkers. Explore what we have to offer and how we can contribute to your artistic journey.
Our very first interview is with an artist you’ve probably not yet heard of. She is a Nature artist, naturally responding to her surroundings, with drawings and paintings and with film. Characteristically self-effacing, she guards her work as an artist with a fierce independence.
This week's interview is with...
Wales-based Artist, Vanessa Jones, whom I first met online in Crista Cloutier’s group meetings. Here she is discussing her work and the inspiration that drives it.
Vanessa was born In London in 1972 and is now based in rural North Wales, near Cardigan Bay.
When asked if her work had always been rooted in Nature as it is now, her answer was “ Yes. I have painted other things of course, but Nature has always been what inspires me. Nature - trees and the human way we experience its different aspects, rather than scenery”
It is her approach to natural forms and their character, which is almost as one would approach a new acquaintance, which makes her work so special for me. You will discover this in her website and in her monthly newsletter. Her style is quietly direct, almost shyly so, whether in paint, crayon or film.
Anyway, to let her speak for herself, when asked if she had always known she was an artist:
“ I don’t remember when I realised I was an artist, but as a child I was excited by colour, drawing and making things.
At school, my art teacher, Mrs Ellis, encouraged me to continue and I left school determined to study Art.
“But then I experienced a highly cynical attitude, and by the time I graduated, my confidence was shot. I stopped painting. Creativity found its voice in photography, the special quality that was film, using a darkroom, the whole thing. I also went to print-making workshops.
Perhaps I only really accepted that I was an artist after a major life change in my late 30’s, when I left London for good, and began devoting more time to the resurgence of my painting.”
“When you’re young, you remember every encouraging word you receive.
So many artists from the past still live with us through their work, and they’ve inspired me in different ways. I never really had a mentor. At college I found support in my tutorials with Albedo Marz who taught there. The nature photographer, Jim Brandenburg, also had very encouraging words for me after I wrote to him in my early 20’s, sending him my black and white photographs.
[ JimBrandenburg died earlier this year (2025) ]
As a young artist I looked at Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch, and the free beauty of Georgia O’Keefe. Also there was Wassily Kandinsky, and the immersive experience of sitting in front of a painting by Mark Rothko.
Other kinds of art and artists influenced me too. I have to mention the film 2001: A Space Odyssey - because it was so massive for me then. It put me in a place of wonder, which thankfully I’ve never lost.”
“My art has gone through more stages than I can tell you. When I returned to painting, I was sort of rusty and finding my feet. It’s taken me a while to get back to a sense of who I am as a painter, finding the language again after leaving unfinished business with it years before. Photography was different, although I still use it now in the process before painting. Year on year I’m getting closer to where I want to be, and I’m reconnecting with ideas that have always been there. It’s not about being innovative, which is an outward perspective. It’s about being introspective.”
“I live with my hubby in the rural outskirts of a small town between the sea and Snowdonia, and my studio is the spare room. It’s full of IKEA shelving packed with all my books and materials, etc, and I do my post-production with my pc. The light is good as it faces south. I know, I know; it’s supposed to face north, but I’ve had that and it’s just too dark in UK, even with special light bulbs. I try to be in there every day, but I just do what I can. The space is limited, but I really appreciate it, and I love to be able to sit at my desk and see the Welsh apple tree I planted in the garden.”
Ed. Vanessa, your newsletters are such a delight to read - like watching a stream flow. And your videos and photos of course add to that vibe. They offer calmness and sense of things being under your control. Just like your paintings and drawings.
Being so cut off from people, and not having a gallery yet, how have you managed to add to your mailing list?
”Thank you. If it comes across as things being under control, it’s probably because I don’t take on too much. I love to share my work and thoughts through my newsletter. I’m not all that cut off from people, I just don’t meet many people who want to interact on that level. Therefore my mailing list is very slow growing. But it’s there. I’ve been running my website for about 12 years. At any reasonable opportunity, I’ll hand out a card.”
Ed.I imagine that like me you welcome the mental and emotional clarity that comes with working in isolation.Do you ever crave for a pub get-together with other artists? Or being able to attend a life-class , or discuss your work with other artists?
“I work better alone, but sometimes I miss spending time with other artists who love to discuss art. Life drawing is a bit far away for me now, but it would be fun to attend again. Let’s not forget it’s great to be able to meet up at Crista Cloutier’s Zoom meetings, through which we met. She is very supportive for artists, she cares, and it shows. Everyone’s different and I love that, perhaps from growing up in a very culturally mixed place. Really I am a lone wolf, and I need to look in quietly to find answers, on my own, with nothing to interrupt me.Thats the only way I can hear…that’s also why I love to be in Nature. If you’re talking, you won’t hear.”
You can contact Vanessa and sign up to her delightful newsletter by going to artvanessa.com