What’s the first thing you thought of when you sat down to design the pride puck?
Oh my gosh, I struggled with it. It’s funny because I’ve been hearing a lot of, “We want this in your style.” I’m like, my graphic design style and my painting style are two completely different things. I had to research pucks before me and how they were done. With the Lightning, I tried not to make it too common. You did have the lightning bolt and things like that, but I wanted to animate that, make it feel electric somehow. I knew I wanted it to be attractive for people, not just in the LGBTQ+ community. I wanted people to say, “Oh, I love that puck. I want that puck,” you know?
Why are initiatives like Pride Night important to you and to the LGBTQ+ community?
Overall, it’s just support. It’s saying, “We’re with you. We recognize that you are human beings.” I think that everybody wants to be accepted somehow. And I think the further you get away from that as being the norm, you just want to know that it’s okay to be who you are—and what even is the norm? What is normal? We are all just on a spectrum of differences. I feel that with organizations like the Lightning, even saying, “Hey, we’re going to have a night for this,” at a time or when you wouldn’t even think that the sport would support anything like that, I think it’s absolutely incredible.
Your style of work, your murals even, it feels very album cover-ish to me. Is that a field you’ve ever ventured into, or does music inspire you in that way?
Oh, I love music. It’s crazy because I found it later in life. I think I was just so submerged in fine arts and things like that, that I didn’t necessarily find music until I went through some pretty heavy things in my life. Then it was just like I found a way to marry the two. I met one of the most influential people that I painted to during that time in my life. I was able to meet him and express that to him—Black Coffee, the DJ.
Do you have any other artists like Black Coffee who inspire your work?
Oh my gosh. Let’s see. I love Kehinde Wiley. I love his style. I think that his style is just so brilliant. I was actually able to see one of his pieces up close recently when we went to Atlanta. I hear this so much, people say to me, “I saw this on social media, but it’s so different in person.” I felt that when I was in front of his piece, to just be able to walk up to it and see how he creates, that just completely changed everything for me.
Do you have a favorite piece of work of your own?
I think I’d have to say that it’s the Tlaloc piece, the Aztec God of Rain. I look at it as my growth piece, because for the first time, I was actually able to look at a reference photo and paint that reference photo, but paint it in the style that I wanted to, meaning his facial structure. At this point in my artistic career, I’ve noticed that I can manipulate faces now. It’s almost like a matrix feeling. You see all the numbers and things like that.
What would your advice be for young artists who want to do what you do?
Don’t compare yourself to other people. Just focus on your craft and finding yourself as an artist. I think that’s probably the best advice I could give. Because then you won’t necessarily get discouraged with saying, “This person’s better than me,” or, “Well, I’m not there and I didn’t do this yet.” It’s all part of your journey as finding yourself as an artist.
When you’re not painting, when you’re not creating, what are you doing? What do you love about living here?
I’m being a mom. I love living here. My daughter was born here, so she’s the first generation to be born here. It’s so funny seeing how a Florida child grows up compared to a Pennsylvania child. I love how there’s just a vacation in every corner of Florida.
You can view the work of Artist Jones online and on Instagram @theartistjones.