Ross Jones @rossjonesnz rossjones.nz is a painter creating works that evoke a heady sense of nostalgia and elevated playfulness, living in Snells Beach on the east coast north of Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.

Each meticulously devised painting hints at various narratives as the artist invites the viewer to engage with his role as a storyteller.

I loved meeting Ross and chatting with him. We talk about Ōtaki on the Kapiti Coast of Aotearoa, where he grew up, and the things he loves about where he now lives at Snells Beach. He shares how he failed his first year studying art and design at Wellington Design School only to return a year later and start the course again, gaining his degree 3 years later.

Ross talks about how he likes to play with time and scale in his work, his love of incorporating toys from his childhood and sourced from around the world into his paintings, how his previous illustration career informs his fine art practice today, and his love of using sketchbooks for organising ideas, experimenting, and drawing.

We discuss goal setting and how this has evolved into his 100 painting project, which started in 2009 and finishes in 2028, and The Final 50 painting project, which will start up after that and hopefully take him through to his early 80s. We explore why Ross doesn’t like to paint NZ scenes, why he wouldn’t enter an art competition, why he likes to paint one painting at a time and only have a solo exhibition every 2 years and why he loves to paint his dog Alice and why he won’t paint yours.

See Ross’s beautiful paintings in his solo show at @parnellgallery opening tonight! November 12th – November 28th 2024.