About Jonathan
Jonathan grew up in rural Virginia just outside of Washington D.C., spending his summers in Connecticut and New Mexico. He earned a Masters of Fine Art from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and a Bachelors of Fine Art in painting from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Other formal education included the Rhode Island School of Design, Taos Institute of Art, Parsons School of Design in Paris, and Johns Hopkins.
For seven years he worked coast to coast as an art show sales rep. and operational manager for two consecutive art studios out of Owings Mills and Pikesville, Md. It was during those long road trips that his intrest in roadside americana developed and he started clicking photos along the way.
"A route I had a few times a year took me from Nashville to Memphis down to Austin and back through New Orleans. The sights, great food, and the music of those cities added so much to our culture. And nothing's more inspiring than cruising down the sun-drenched roads that run across the south west to Arizona and California. I love our fading roadside kitsch. Teepee motels, giant fiberglass statues, and Drive-In burger joints! That's what's unique about America."
The roadside images merged with a medium when Jonathan mixed Polaroid transfer photography on watercolor paper with soft pastels, and shadow boxes. He started selling the 3-D mixed media artwork out of a gallery in Austin, Tx. and at art shows around the country.
His work has earned numerous awards including two fellowships from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, a grant from Binny Smith Inc.( Liquitex, Crayola ), a Graduate fellowship from Maryland Institute and a grant from the Maryland Arts Council.
"The art show circut was exciting, but I spent a lot of time on the road. And when my wife and I had children, I wanted to spend more time at home."
Jonathan's Mural Arts
In 2005, after being asked to decorate and paint murals for a new restaurant, He revisited another creative outlet and started a mural painting business called Jonathan's Mural Arts.
"I wasn't entirely new to mural painting. Back in college, a friend and I were hired over the summer to paint a mural for the Virginia Science Museum. Neither one of us had ever painted a mural, It was really what you'd call on the job training."
Since then, he has been painting all variety of custom residential and commercial murals. And when the jobs are on the larger side, he has a trusted assistant to help out.
"I love painting murals! It's the use of all my skills. A new project is a fresh set of ideas and solutions. You're observant of the enviroment and concious of your clients needs as you focus your artistic knowledge and creativity. It's one of the most rewarding things as an artist."
Jonathan's Mural Arts operates in the Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia areas.