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"The artist does not see things as they are, but as he or she is." - Alfred Tonnelle
Since hearing the news that Jeffrey Catherine Jones passed away yesterday (May 19, 2011), I keep coming back to one thing — I'll never again be able to refer to her as "my favorite living painter". That's a change I never thought I'd have to make. A simple one, but still tough.
I will miss Jeffrey greatly. Her life's work awakened something wonderous in me many years ago, and I owe her a debt of gratitude.
Marvin Gaye said, and I'm paraphrasing the hell out of it, "If one is a true artist, their singular goal is to open the minds of men and women". With Jeff, we've most certainly witnessed the passing of a true artist.
That's all I got for now, I guess. The real stuff is in the show. And trust when I say Dwight's story is the one. Listen for that! I envy him for having that brief, but moving exchange with Jones. And at the same time, since it happened to my man, I get to share in it, too. So really, I'm good.
Bye, Jeff. Sleep peacefully, rest easy...
- SWAiN
**I chose the picture above because it was featured in The Studio book by Dragon's Dream, and it made me wanna be that smooth, bohemian, artist type. Ha!
The 2004 Sequential Tart interview with Jeffrey Catherine Jones conducted by Laurie J. Anderson.
Hazy Shade of Winter written by Paul Simon
Time, time, time, see what's become of me
While I looked around
For my possibilities
I was so hard to please
But look around, leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter
Hear the Salvation Army Band
Down by the riverside, it's bound to be a better ride
Than what you've got planned
Carry your cup in your hand
And look around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter
Hang on to your hopes, my friend
That's an easy thing to say, but if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend
That you can build them again
Look around, the grass is high
The fields are ripe, it's the springtime of my life
Ahhh, seasons change with the scenery
Weaving time in a tapestry
Won't you stop and remember me
But look around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter
Look around, leaves are brown
There's a patch of snow on the ground...
I enjoyed your talk on Jeffrey Catherine Jones. There were lots of great points made and one that stands out in my mind is just how productive he was. Between his facebook postings and on websites I've seen gobs of work that has never been reproduced in the "Art of" books and collections (the cook book, etc.) One point that I've never heard addressed is something I find core to his influencing me is his design skills. Frazetta seemed to develop that across his career but Jones had that working even in the early Warren stories and carried right into his oil paintings. I had heard that Jones led a plein aire painting group that included George Pratt and others. I'd love to hear more about that if you know about it. Also, there was something in the documentary clips of the Jones documentary posted that led me to believe that his daughter's last name is Muth. Married to Jon J. ? I wondered anyway.
Great show and I hope you keep posting these as podcasts for ipods!
Andrew Mitchell
(RE: Hey, Andrew. Thanks for writing and listening in on the Jones tribute. Whenever we do something like this we're always a little uneasy as to how to approach it. Our connection is much just as fans, although in Jeff's case, I felt very personally affected by the news of her passing. Jones' work was very, very special to me. I felt I was visiting a friend when I'd crack open an artbook and look at her paintings. I'm emotional right now typing these words knowing that our universe will never see that kind of imagination and picture-making unite so beautifully again. Sad. As to design, yes, you're probably right on there. As influenced as Jeff was by Frazetta early on, she diverged in many places as an artist and clearly found her own voice fast (in my opinion). On the "plein air painters group" question, I think that's accurate. It may not have been as formal as we think it was, but that seems to be what I remember reading. His daughter's last name...maybe. His daughter and Jon, I believe, are close enough in age that your assertion could be correct, but I dunno. It would be a HUGE coincedence not to be true. Who knows? Take care, and again, thanks for being kind enough to listen and share. - S)
Posted by: andrew mitchell | May 23, 2011 at 20:13
Short but I enjoyed the episode, gentlemen. I could tell that you guys were a little emotionally raw since the news probably just happened when you did the episode.
My first exposure to Jones' work was the one page "Idyl" comic strips in Heavy Metal, I think. As a young teen, my first reaction was "Oh! Naked boobies!" but I quickly learned, as my art tastes matured as I did, to appreciate her style. I don't think I have a proper art book in my collection for Jones so I'll have to remedy that soon. I always associate those Idyll women as the prototypical Jeff Jones woman: short, wide hips, naturalistic, with dark frizzy hair.
Kudos to you for doing an episode. I guess most of the comic forums and podcasts I might see aren't versed in the great illustrators/artists and spend more time with current comic news. I know I can always count on you guys to be on it with an appreciation for Jones or Frazetta. And thanks for not shying away from the gender reassignment thing either. Some might skip it, not wanting to offend or get too personal, but I think it is an important aspect to Jones' life.
I hope you all are well!
P.S.-No Travis Charest at WonderCon in April and Big Wow Comicfest in May despite him having a table. I'm thinking of starting a collection of empty table photos. :)
Posted by: R.R. Werner aka Atomic99 | June 08, 2011 at 00:49