I began drawing cartoon books from an early age and was lucky at the age of 10 to have my cartoons filmed at the Richard Williams Animation Studios in Soho. Then, however, a parallel interest in music and musical composition took over, and this is what I went on to read at Cambridge University, followed by postgraduate study at the Royal College of Music, at the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts in Canada, and with Tristan Murail in Paris on a French Government Scholarship. Writing and illustrating children's books for my son gradually led me back to art: I studied watercolour with Sarah Christian at Morley College, and then took further classes there in life painting and mixed media with Denzil Forrester.
My art is inspired by a love of line, colour, rhythm and movement. I want my work to have the same kind of immediate impact that music can: on the senses, the imagination and the emotions. Although there is often a strong figurative element behind my pictures, the final images can be quite abstract - I like exploring the borderline between what is real and imaginary, concrete and suggestive. A recurring theme in my work is that of release and breaking free from constraints: the expression of free-flowing untrammelled energy...
I have exhibited at the Jeannie Avent Gallery, Morley Gallery, and with Brent Artists' Resource, and currently take part in regular exhibitions at the Espacio Gallery, London.
For further information, prices or commissions, please email me at: jonathandeanpainting@outlook.com. And follow my regular updates on Instagram: @jonathandeanpainting