“You could call [my work] a visual diary or even a personal history. I’m not going to paint something that doesn’t have anything to do with me. Of all of the possible things I could paint, the thing that interests me is something that I can get close enough to in order to paint it honestly. “
Jonas Wood was born in 1977 in Boston. He is an American contemporary artist known for his still-life paintings which are mainly of plants, domestic interiors, landscapes, and sports scenes all done without shading or depth rendering artwork that is very flat but incredibly vibrant.
Jonas Wood grew up surrounded by the art collection of his grandfather, featuring the work of artists such as Francis Bacon, Alexander Calder, Jim Dine, and Andy Warhol. He received a BA from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York, in 1999, majoring in psychology and minoring in studio art, then in 2002 attended the University of Washington, Seattle, where he received an MFA in painting and drawing. Jonas Wood often uses photo collage as sketches before beginning the final painting. He is married to a Japanese fellow artist Shio Kusaka. The pair often work in tandem, inspiring one another – you will see motifs migrating from Kusaka’s ceramic vessels to Wood’s paintings and back again. Jonas Wood is inspired by David Hockney who pioneered photo collage into the art world as well as Henri Matisse whose use of the red as a background can be see in the inspiration example this week entitled Red Diptych.
This week, Art in Action students created a plant still -life inspired by Jonas Wood. Students created a sketch of their own “vessel” to house the plant and then sketched in the leaves. Using a variety of colourful oil pastels, students outlined the plants and added the veins of the plant leaf as well. Using small brushes and green watercolour, students carefully painted over these leaves and were amazed at the resist quality of oil pastels and watercolour. To paint in the negative space, students used the colour red which we looked as being unconventional to use a warm colour for the background. Typically cool colours which recede into the background are used instead. The end result however, makes for a very dramatic and vibrant piece. Take a look at some of these fantastic works by some of our students this week in Art in Action!
I have yet to see an actual plant that looks this colourful! This week really brightened up the dull grey weather we have been having lately. Great work to everyone!