Before 1968-70, the main theme of my work was
nonfigurative. Coming to terms with challenges of the new environment, landscape
became my main motif and I have portrayed the seasonal changes and the land
forms of this region since this time. The drawings and paintings completed in
the sixties and seventies were fore-runners of my involvement today with a group
of artists who have taken the Midwest landscape image as their theme. In 1993,
my work was included in an exhibition in the Bloomington Center for Art. The
exhibition was titled, "A View from Here, Painters of the Heartland." In summer
1994, I was one of five artists to be invited to write an essay on the spiritual
content of their work. Titled, "Wind Swept Plains and other Sacred Places,"
it was published in fall 1995, in Providence College's Studies in Western Civilization.
Essentially, my work revolves around a sense of place. My home is in two cultures
and two countries. In the various visits to my village in Wales, it is easy
to adjust to the life style. When in Macomb, the feeling is that this has been
my home for all of my life. These collective experiences have led to a series
of works that are representative of a richly rewarding experience.
- Fred Jones
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