Introducing Ross Jones

Born in 1966, I was raised in Otaki, a small town of just 5000 people located 70km north of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. I spent the first 18 years of my life there and during this time observed the world change and the pace of life accelerate dramatically—but Otaki pretty much remained unchanged as if time had stood still.

As with most small towns, everybody knew each other and, in many ways, it was an idyllic life. When I headed off to study art and design, it called for a change from country living to city life. Despite my enthusiasm for this newfound environment, I hung onto the precious memories of the things and places I’d left behind. In many ways, you can still find much of the country pace of life in my paintings.

After graduating from the Wellington School of Design in the early ’90s, I spent the next 15 years working on commissioned paintings for companies and private individuals around the world, including Bank of America, Penguin Books NY, The Wall St Journal and Time Inc.

I now paint full-time, supplying galleries my version of everyday life as I see it. My paintings are held in private collections in England, Ireland, North America, Australia and my home country, New Zealand.

After years of experimenting with different media and techniques, I have arrived at a style that works with my ideas, composition and colour palette. My paintings are all about telling stories. They are a mixture of seemingly perfect places and events. But like all good stories, not everything is as it seems.

Shadows create just enough intrigue to tip the balance between a serene or sinister scene. The result is just enough information in the composition to engage the viewer. From there it’s up to the viewer to fill in the gaps and create their own story.

I love the phrase “Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story,” so as you view my paintings, don’t let your imagination stop you from seeing the bigger picture. How far the journey takes you is entirely up to you.

Every person has a slightly different take on what’s happening. Sometimes the story is simpler than we think. Other times a simple scene may hide a complex situation.