Art / elaine jones
First Contemporary shows new work from Bristol landscape artist Elaine Jones
First Contemporary is a Stokes Croft-based online gallery, run and curated by Andrew Hood.
They are now showing new work from established Bristol landscape painter Elaine Jones, who is based at Jamaica Street Studios.
As an artist, Jones is inspired by the natural environment, and particularly by “wide open, empty spaces”.
is needed now More than ever
In a departure from the blue and green palette of the rugged Cornish and Devon coastlines that have figured largely in her practice to date, her new collection of paintings depicts the coastlines of Italy and Greece.
As someone who tries to avoid flying, she chose to take a train down to the southern Mediterranean by way of London, Paris, and Madrid. It was a decision that went on to shape the work that she created.
Elaine Jones in her studio with paintings from Coastlines – Italy & Greece, 2024
“You see so much of the countryside by train, in a way you don’t see from a plane or the car,” she recalls.
“Watching out the window, seeing the landscape change so fast, from being flat to mountainous and rocky.”
Elaine Jones, sketches from Coastlines
Jones began by capturing views from the train window, making a series of quick “loose and energetic” sketches that figured as a diary of her trip.
Once in situ, she continued to make dynamic, lively drawings and sketches of her surroundings, often doing so in varying light – from daybreak to sunset – allowing her to capture something different every time.
Elaine Jones’ sketches in different lights
Back in her studio, the sketches were used as the basis of large-scale canvas paintings, often becoming more abstract over time. “I think the paint is more important to me than where a painting is of,” Jones notes.
“When I am working on the floor and moving paint around, I let it do its own thing to a certain degree – it’s the paint itself which dictates the painting, rather than the landscape. I add and take away paint as time goes on and enjoy not knowing how it’s going to turn out.”
the artist in her studio
Working on a series of paintings at the same time, Jones moves around the space, pouring paint, using loose brushwork and allowing her creative impulses to take over.
The result of combining the deliberate and accidental is an ethereal quality that permeates her work.
Elaine Jones framed by her Coastlines paintings
The Elaine Jones: Coastlines collection is available at www.firstcontemporary.com. Find out more about the artist at www.elainejonesgallery.com.
All photos: © Elaine Jones
Read next:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
