Mike Jones (1941-2022)

Born in 1941, Mike was a prolific artist who took inspiration from the Welsh culture in which he grew up and was heavily influenced by the lives of the people and places of the Swansea valley. His subject matter was drawn from his observations both past and present.

Brought up in the mining community of Godre`r-graig his images reflect the hard living conditions that his family and neighbours often had to endure. Paintings and drawings of women scrubbing steps, baking, hanging out washing, or simply sitting sharing a quiet moment with the onlooker, contrast with the granite figures of men who worked in the thriving steel and coal industries, yet both convey the individuality and richness of their lives. The rugged landscape of the upper valley was boldly interpreted in expressive paintings and drawings of windswept hedgerows of red hawthorn, remnants of old mine workings, isolated farmhouses and old chapel buildings.

During the early 1990s Mike met and became friends with two artists he had admired for many years, Will Roberts and Josef Herman.

“I have been familiar with Mike Jones`s work for some years, finding it always good, always imaginative…. Talented and sensitive , he must stand well now with the better Welsh painters.” (Will Roberts 1997)

“The figures in black and white stay on in my mind….I am also impressed with the texture of his oil pastels….he is extremely gifted”. (Josef Herman R.A.; 1998)

Mike exhibited widely across Wales and the Cotswolds and successfully exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Show in 2015, selling all four selected pieces.

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