Lemons on Brown Transferware original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

8" square original mixed media painting on canvas.SOLD

Little Pitcher original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

8" square original mixed media painting.SOLD

Here is my little pitcher with a small ear. Having a cranky day...the only solution for that was to get in the studio. I'm trying to accept the fact that my daughter is in fact graduating!

Interview and Twin Petunias original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

I have had the nicest experience of being interviewed by Amber Cauley for her lovely blog Lighthearded Studios. You should check out her blog and Etsy shop here.












8" by 8" acrylic and mixed media on canvas. SOLD

I was pinching off dead petunias from an outside basket when off popped this little branch. After putting them in a vase, to my surprise, I realized they were quite wonderful. I have never given petunias a lot of credit, it seems. Mixed in with the paint is text from a very old dictionary and a small piece of map. The text included bits about Gemini, the twin and some words about flower buds. I promise these were just random pieces that I happened to pick up and yet they fit so beautifully!

Remember, Blue Willow Mug original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

6" square original mixed media on canvas. SOLD

I've forgotten which Gregory Maguire book describes a broken piece of blue willow so magically. Maybe it was Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Does that ring a bell to anyone? I love painting this old mug because it seems to have a history.

Woohoo, Etsy's Get the Look Decor feature!

Get the Look Decor: Rainbow Connection

I am so happy to have our home featured in my favorite Etsy blog "Get the Look Decor" column! It's authored by Christine Domanic. I had uploaded some of our house photos into the There's No Place Like Here Flickr pool which she used, interspersed with interview questions. She compiles items from Etsy that go with the decor of the house that is shown. If you want to check it out, please click here.

Eva Zeisel cup original mixed media painting

12" acrylic and mixed media original painting on gallery wrapped canvas.SOLD

I actually finished this a while back but have been pretty busy this week and am just now posting. This cup was designed by Hungarian born Eva Zeisal back in the 1950s. Over 100 years old now, she was at one time imprisoned for over a year, accused of being involved in a plot to assassinate Stalin.

White Iris with Pear original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

12" square original mixed media painting. SOLD

This white iris is the last one I had picked a couple of days before the terrible hail storms yesterday. I have another large iris painting that I'm still working on and will share later. That's the end of iris season though. We are so grateful for the 2 inches of rain and feel fortunate not to have broken windows like many in Abilene. We only suffered a battered garden and broken hummingbird feeder. My heart goes out to the many people affected by tornadoes and wild fires elsewhere.

Irises in Blue Pitcher original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

Sense from Spirit, 18" by 24" acrylic and mixed media on canvas. On Etsy here.

This is one of my favorites lately. It really expressed a sense of joyfulness and renewal that I'm grateful for experiencing during spring. The title is from an Emily Dickinson poem called "Choice."

Iris Found original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

8" by 10" acrylic and mixed media papers on canvas. On Etsy here.

All of the irises seem to be blooming at the same time. I'm desperately painting, hoping they hold out for a while longer. I feel kind of lovesick because they are SO beautiful.

Knockout Rose original mixed media still life painting

6" square original mixed media painting, acrylic paint, Golden Encyclopedia pages, wrapping paper and ancient dictionary pages on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

This came from a generous rose bush in the back yard. It's covered in blooms right now. It's freakishly hot today...right now it's 93 degrees. Painting roses always makes me get out my book on Manet for inspiration. I love the still life paintings he did later in life.

Another blueberry painting and original mixed media "Imposter"

The top 8" mixed media painting is called "Imposter. I was really taken with this plastic lime container. It"s in Etsy here.

The next painting is a commission I did for someone who wanted a blueberry painting like I had in the show. This is the third one I've done. I enjoy the challenge of recreating the look of a painting. It causes me to study it and think about it in a new way. I don't do exact copies but set up the same still life again and see what happens. If you are interested in having me do a commission there's more information here.

Here's a shot of a grouping of 8" square pieces at the River Oaks show. Some sold and some are available at Etsy. You can see that "Imposter" looks a bit different here in the show...just couldn't leave it alone, had to incorporate that blue in there.

Garlic mixed media painting for Japan relief effort

5" by 7" acrylic and mixed media on gallery wrapped canvas with 3/4" edge. Wired and ready to hang without a frame. On Etsy here.


All proceeds (except shipping costs) from this little painting will be donated to The Japanese Red Cross for disaster relief. If you look closely by clicking for a large view you can see the word "Japanese" in some of the text of the collage.

Green Apples in a Catherinholms Bowl original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

11" by 14" acrylic and mixed media painting on canvas listed here on Etsy.

This had been a troublesome little piece that had been put with it's nose in the corner of the studio for several months until I finally had another go with it today. All of that previous paint and paper gave it a nice grungy surface that's hard to capture with a photograph. I was happy to find that the mug painting in the top photograph was in part of an Etsy blog feature today. I love all the colors they put together in their post here.

Blue Willow Light and Shadows original mixed media by Polly Jones

8" acrylic and mixed media painting on canvas. SOLD

This painting is one of the last ones I did for the show at River Oaks. It feels like a landscape to me. It's what I've been seeing out my window with these early spring days of light chasing shadow.

Spring Trio original mixed media flower painting by Polly Jones

12" square acrylic and mixed media paper on canvas, on Etsy here.

Beautiful day!

Art et Fleurs flower painting show

Here's an invitation to a show happening this weekend at the Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, Tx. It's a group show that should be a lot of fun! Click here for a link to some of the paintings that will be included in the exhibit. A painting that I posted on the blog a while back is the last one in that bunch. I'm hoping mine will be chosen for interpretation with a flower arrangement, but haven't heard yet.

Ever After original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

16" by 20" acrylic and mixed media painting on gallery wrapped canvas, SOLD

Well, the show reception went well with a huge crowd. Thank you everyone for coming!!! Can't show photographs now, since I forgot a camera but will show some as soon as I beg them off of Miles. Linda Stricklin, the owner, had it streaming live on Facebook. This was somewhat terrifying to me but apparently it's not saved on her FB page so I didn't have to look at video of myself.

It's helped me to see the work in an exhibit, to be more objective about what direction my work is going.

Two Places At Once original mixed media painting

16" by 20" acrylic and paper on gallery wrapped canvas. On Etsy here.

This is one of my newer works that I have in the River Oaks Gallery right now. Hope to see you there for the reception tomorrow night. I'm so excited! Details here.

Show Invite

Hope you can come to the Friday night reception! It's from 6:30 to 8:00.

More Lemons original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

More Lemons original mixed media painting, 8" square acrylic and paper on canvas. SOLD

I like using collage as a way to explore ideas about randomness. The different pieces of text used together collide and are changed by the context. In my life it seems like the things that happen can seem arbitrary at times, meaningful at other times. My slant on this is that purpose is not always apparent and most of the time, chaos can add up to a good end.

Today I took a break while working on this painting and called an old friend who is going through incredibly difficult trials. One thing after another has happened to this dear family. I said "I'm praying for you" and wondered if it sounded hollow. They have heard that phrase so often lately. For me, painting and praying are very similar, so I will keep on doing both and hope it eventually makes sense.

Ginger Jar original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

4" by 12" acrylic and mixed media on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

This size of canvas was an impulse buy at Michaels. I must say it was fun to compose in this shape for a change of pace. Okay, question....what would you do with the edges. I usually have the 1 and 3/8" edge white but sometimes paint them black. Do you have opinions about this? Maybe you prefer standard canvas width which is about 3/4".

This painting and about fifteen or so more will be in an exhibit at The River Oaks Gallery, Abilene Frame and Art, in Abilene,Texas. I'm so excited! I'll be showing with Aaron Winters, a photographer, and Miles Mayfield who uses raku clay and mixed media. The opening reception is March 4th from 6:30 to 8:00 and I would LOVE to see you there.

Kalanchoe original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

8" square original mixed media acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

This is definitely a winter painting. I was snowed in, wanting a flower to paint. In a fit of desperation, I ended up breaking off a swig from my kalanchoe potted plant. Now that I have uploaded the photo I see the blue willow tea cup looks a bit wombly. I like some distortion to create movement but this looks like too much. I'll probably work on it again.

Well I found out "Wish You Were Here" got an honorable mention at the Stars of Texas Exhibit. My good friend Dan McGregor received the sculpture award. Sara Beth Clevenger and Tony Brown, both friends from The Center For Contemporary Arts here in Abilene also got painting prizes too. There's a link here to an article with photos. I wimped out and didn't brave the weather to drive to Brownwood for the reception.

Thanks for all the comments and well wishes on the last couple of posts!

A Romance original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

A Romance original mixed media painting. SOLD

Here's another 36" by 24" fish bowl painting I've been working on. We were snowed in for several days this week so I was pretty productive in the studio. I'm not sure if I'm done so will let it rest a while and try to look at it with fresh eyes. You can see my prized stash of Little Golden Book Encyclopedias and vintage atlas books in the background.

Hope you all are keeping warm and safe through this crazy spot of winter weather.

Wish You Were Here original mixed media painting

24" by 36" acrylic and mixed media painting.  SOLD

I've been working on this over several months, though not continuously. I was so happy to have it juried into the "Stars of Texas" exhibit in Brownwood, Texas this weekend. I went with a friend to drop off work at 12 and then check in at 4 to find out if they were accepted. We had so much fun killing time...going to antique stores and junk stores. That night, I got an email that the painting above has won an award but they won't reveal specific awards until Saturday at the opening. They requested a statement about it to show alongside the painting. I thought I'd share it below.

"I’ve had a fascination with fish bowls for a long time. In fact, one of my earliest memories is of my hand grasping a fish in a cold water. I’m not sure if that one survived but the deaths of subsequent pet fish (though not by my hand) were my first lessons in mortality. I think of “Wish You Were Here” as part of a still life painting tradition called Vanitas which dates from 16th and 17th century Netherlands. It’s a reminder of the brevity of life while enjoying it’s fleeting pleasures. While there are other ideas bound up in this painting, I hope the visual properties of it to be the most important. The text and map collage are woven into the paint like the many thoughts and influences that are a part of the act of looking."

Another Dutch Iris painting

8" square acrylic and mixed media on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

What a great day yesterday! Mary McCleary has an exhibit called "An Act of Faith" at The Grace here in Abilene. If you click on The Grace you can get some images and information. She gave an artist talk that was wonderful. I had heard her speak before but never seen her art work in person. Her work is just amazing...photographs do not do them justice.

Afterwards Kenny and I went to Harold's Bar-B-Que for lunch. It's an institution here in Abilene and even get's Texas Monthly writeups. The food was good but my favorite part was how Harold asked one of the customer's in line to get him a coke from the drink station.