Jon Clayton

Jon’s art is about places. They can be recognisable, detailed representational images but also, looser, abstract impressions, responses informed by connections present and in memory. Many of his paintings depict places of personal significance where he has spent time, often a lot of time. He particularly loves the landscape of Britain, the same small localities he continually returns to. Their familiarity is their strength – it’s what holds and moves him. Revisiting them – walking, running, drawing and photographing – he feels part of something already known. And yet, still, there is always something new, a fresh source of surprise.

After graduating with a BA degree in Creative Arts from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1986, Jon worked briefly as an artist and illustrator for a conservation group. He later qualified as a primary school teacher and after a number of years as a class teacher, continued in education as an Arts Specialist, teaching and delivering workshops for children from primary aged children to young adults studying A-level; students in higher education and adults both in and outside the teaching profession. He uses a range of art media and techniques – maintaining that encouraging others to explore new methods made him open to experimenting and virtually all his work contains mixed media. He also writes and will often include some text in his work.

The core of Jon’s process is about responding to the landscape by drawing. He likes to go to places that have special meaning, where he feels a connection to the landscape. Jon makes many rapid sketches on paper, using a mixture of, but limited art media. His drawing may incorporate marks, washes and colours that represent objects or features in the landscape or movement as well as how he feels at the time. He tries not simply to frame what is immediately in front of him but to respond to what grabs his attention, be it near or far away or on the edges of peripheral vision all on the same or many pieces of (usually) paper. His practice is evolving and changing all the time.

On a walk, Jon may stop and draw at different points along the way, creating a kind of story of the journey in the landscape. These drawing are often collaged back at the studio, recomposing to create new works that give a feel of the landscape and the day, finding connections in the marks he has made. Sometimes this is enough and these re-compositions stay in sketchbooks but others are framed as fresh, energetic work in their own right.

Jon then refers to his drawing and re-compositions or parts of them, for fresh larger artworks, attempting to recall the marks and energy, as far as possible, as he builds layers, typically on cradled wood panel or canvas. At this stage, although he continues to use inks for their intensity and other mixed media such as charcoal and oil pastel he likes to use more acrylic paint and occasionally oils in thin coats and glazes.