Jon Tury Artwork

Email inquiries to

jon[at]jontury.com

About the Artist

Hello, my name is Jon Tury.


I still have the first painting I created. A 12x14 still life - a bowl with fruit, now faded to darkness.


I've painted off and on throughout my life. The last ten years have produced most of my work - about 300 pieces, 180 of which are acrylic on canvas.


My natural creativity eventually became enhanced by mind altering substances. A light bulb went off and I painted madly. Another kind of perception.


The majority of the work is human portrayal, the dear female of the race. Basically I see faces and figures wherever I look. They just appear while gazing at anything, trees, buildings or folds in a curtain. Essentially, squiggles on a page become a face. It’s not intentional, it just happens.


I consider myself an artist more than a painter. In other words, I don't copy anything - e.g. a literal representation of a landscape. An idea just flows from my head onto the canvas. I have no idea how the piece will progress or end up. It’s a visceral thing, a kind of freedom.

Most of the work is colorful, the painting seeking attention. Lots of hand gestures, beckoning, repelling, suggesting. My work can be stark and crude but I want people to question what they're seeing.


I believe Picasso was the greatest artist of all time because of his desire to be different. His art has had the most effect on mine.


I have always felt the need to create, the gift of my life. Before painting, I was a successful potter for seventeen years and sold many thousands of pieces.


I invented and designed the solar chime - A decorative indoor chime that is powered by light (via a solar cell). I built the chimes by hand at first, and then founded a business to manufacture them based on my designs.


Recently, an urge came to me to write. Fourteen short stories, over forty poems and other writings appeared.


My attention has shifted over the years. I have allowed my mind to pour out my creativity into whatever medium feels right in the moment. Not everyone is creative - I got lucky.