A Glimpse of Summer

Ink over pencil on paper, 11.5" x 8.5".

Today the battle between color and grey took place in the skies over Portland. It began with a huge tear in the black sky at 5 AM, through which a giant cream moon rolled out. Throughout the rest of the day, the sky was grey, then gold and blue and pink and white then grey then yellow, etc. The blossom bearing fruit trees bursted fluffy, in rows, staring skyward. The people in my taxi rallied when the sunlight was winning out over the clouds. Funny how this feeling is so universal among people.

Ezra Pound

Pencil on paper, 10" x 8.5".

Milk Carton

Acrylic on paper, 7" x 5".

Safeway

I went in looking for breakfast this morning. I found oatmeal but couldn’t find soymilk.

The aisles were full of people working. I braved my social anxiety and asked a petite girl with an inventory gun. She said, “I don’t work here!” in her frightened Slavic accent. I asked a fast-walking guy in a blue poly shirt and tie, but he didn’t work there either. I found no employees except the too-busy baker, butcher and cashier.

The PA system hard-pitched standard groceries, trying to make them sound sexy and more expensive. I had to get out of there! I surrendered to an over-priced pint of cow’s milk.

It wasn’t even 8 AM yet, and Safeway clipped me for 10 bucks. How can I redeem this feeling of being lab-ratted on the third rail of a corporate conveyor belt? I know: I’ll paint the milk carton!

Phantom Beauty

Acrylic over collage on paper, 7" x 5".

Junk Food Molecule

Acrylic on paper, 14" x 11".

At the beginning of each week I make a mammoth shift out of cab driving and into art making. Eating is a distracting necessity, so I ate some fast food today. At my easel, my body was protesting as this entered my bloodstream. Drawing then painting this was cathartic.

Kachinas Flying Among the Saguaros

Watercolor and ink on paper, 11.25" x 8.25.

When I was a little boy, I lived in the Arizona desert. My father worked at a desert resort hotel, and we lived within the compound. I used to wander of into the desert and play by myself. I loved the heat and the roadrunners and the Saguaros. Later I studied the Hopi culture. Hopi art has great resonance.

Little Jerome is a Heavy Sleeper.

Ink & pencil on paper, 8.5" x 11.5"

Some Clowns Will Do Anything for Attention

Pencil and ink on paper, digitally enhanced, 11.5" x 8".

The Rebeginning.

My name is Maitland Jones. My friends call me Ed Jones. Welcome to a collection of my pictures. I am sometimes unable to explain my thoughts with words, so I like to use pictures.

Sometimes I do not know what I am feeling until after I create an image. The picture then speaks to me like a crystal ball.

This is a dream language. Before there were words, there were pictures.