Shirley Jones (artist) explained

Shirley Jones
Birth Date:14 November 1934
Birth Place:Rhondda Valley, Wales
Occupation:Printmaker, writer, artist
Years Active:1975–2019
Nationality:Welsh / British

Shirley Jones (born 14 November 1934) is a Welsh writer, poet and printmaker whose works include limited-edition artist's books published from 1983 to 2016. As a printmaker, she is known particularly for her mezzotints.[1]

Jones's work has been widely exhibited, including solo retrospective exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum, National Library of Wales and Newport Museum.[2] Many of her artist's books were published under her imprint The Red Hen Press (not to be confused with the Californian publisher Red Hen Press).

Early life and education

Jones was born on 14 November 1934[3] [4] in Rhondda Valley, Wales.[5] Her father was an unemployed coal miner, who later became a railway signalman.[6] [7] She studied literature at Cardiff University, where she met and later married Ken Jones.[8] They had three children, who feature in a number of her books.[9] [10] After graduating from Cardiff, Jones taught English for seven years, while also taking various art classes. She finally left teaching in 1974, aged forty, to study art full time.[11] She took courses in sculpture and printmaking at Croydon College of Art and Design, leading on to a course in advanced printmaking in 1975–1976.[5]

Exhibitions

Jones' work has been the subject of over twenty-five solo exhibitions.[12] Major retrospective exhibitions include:

Jones' work has also featured in many thematic exhibitions, such as Cardiff University's 'Neighbourly Devils' (31 October 2017 - 31 March 2018).[17]

Collections

Shirley Jones' work has been collected by over a hundred institutions, particularly in the United States.[18] Notable public collections of Jones's work include those held by the National Museum of Wales,[5] The British Library,[19] The Library of Congress,[20] Cornell University[21] Vassar College,[22] Smith College,[23] and Wellesley College.[24]

Cardiff University acquired a complete collection of her books by donation in 2019 and is currently digitising the works,[25] on the understanding that Jones's wish is that all the images should be made available on a Creative Commons Licence (CC-BY). High resolution versions of some of her prints have also been make available on Wikimedia, including those in the Gallery. On 7 March 2024 Cardiff issued a press release and video about the donation to mark World Book Day and International Women's Day.

Publications

Jones's publications are listed below. Most are artist's books published by The Red Hen Press during the period of 1975–2016, with print-runs of between six and fifty copies. Many of the books (see first footnote) have now been digitized and are available as jpg and tiff files as part of the Cardiff University, Digital Special Collections: "The Red Hen Press: hand-printed, hand-bound artists' books from Shirley Jones' The Red Hen Press".[26] Nineteen of the books (see second footnote) are also available as e-books on the Internet Archive, which allows them to be read in manner closer to their original format. The 'Contents' section in the table is based on the descriptions in Ronald Patkus' bibliography and Jones' reflections on her books.[27] The translations from Old English and Middle Welsh are by Jones.

Year TitleContents
1975 Words and Prints[28] [29] Twelve prints and poems
1977 Windows[30] [31] Five poems and prints with personal themes
1978 The Same SunSocial, political and personal poems with nine colour etchings
1979 BackgroundsTen poems and colour etchings based on Jones' experiences
1979 Rhymes for our Times[32] [33] Reimagined children's nursery rhymes, accompanied by colour prints
1980 Greek Dance[34] [35] A poem and five etchings about Lindos in Rhodes
1980 Sunflower Rainflower Pale Morning StarThree poems and prints
1983 Scop Hwīlum Sang[36] [37] 'Sometimes a Poet Sang': six etchings inspired by Old English poetry
1984 Impressions[38] [39] Eight aquatints with poems inspired by Jones' first visit to the USA
1986 A Dark Side of the Sun[40] [41] Six poems and mezzotints about people 'who live in the shadow of the sun'[42]
1986 Ellor-Gāst[43] [44]
1988 The Making of Ellor-Gāst[45] [46] Short booklet about the difficulties encountered in making Ellor-Gāst
1987 Nocturne for WalesFive aquatints and short stories about Jones' childhood in the Rhondda Valley
1988 For Gladstone[47] [48] Stories of a family cat, accompanied by eleven mezzotints
1989 Soft Ground, Hard Ground[49] [50] Prose and poetry about being a woman, with twelve colour etchings
1990 Five Flowers for my FatherEulogy to her father, with five prints and prose pieces
1991 Two MoonsNine mezzotints and poems about those labeled as 'mental defectives'
1993 Ordinary CatsSix mezzotints and poems about cats
1993 Llym awel[51] [52] 'Sharp the wind': Early Medieval Welsh poetry: translations, introductions and seven prints
1995 Falls the Shadow[53] [54] Five essays by Jones about idealism and its outcomes, with six prints
1999 Etched in AutumnPoems and prints responding to Jones' return to Wales and its landscape
1999 Y Morgrugyn Cloff[55] [56] 'The Lame Ant': seven tales from The Mabinogion
2000 Footprints[57] [58] Twelve mezzotints and short stories about family pets
2002 Etched OutFive mezzotints and prose pieces about the Epynt clearance
2005 Chwedlau[59] [60] 'Legends': essays by Jones about fifteen centuries of Welsh myths and folklore, with seven prints
2007 Taith Arall'An other journey': a commentary on Giraldus Cambrensis' tour of Wales in 1188.
2009 Terra Contigua[61] [62] 'Border Country': a visual response to the poems of Henry Vaughan and Thomas Traherne
2011 A Thonau Gwyllt y Mor'And the Wild Waves of the Sea': Five poems and etchings about the coast of medieval Wales
2016 The Quest[63] [64]
2019Mezzotint and the Artist's Book: a forty year journey[65] An autobiographical account of Jones' printmaking and book production

Bibliography

Jones's artwork has been covered in the following books, journals and newspaper articles:

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://archive.org/details/shirley-jones-journey/mode/2up Shirley Jones (2019). Mezzotint and the Artist's Book: a forty year journey (The Red Hen Press)
  2. Web site: Makers Guild – Shirley Jones. the makers guild in wales.
  3. Web site: Archival Material Chwedlau – page proofs . whelf-cardiff.primo.exlibrisgroup.com . 9 August 2023 . en.
  4. Web site: Jones, Shirley, (b1934), printmaker and publisher . 5 August 2023 . The National Archives Discovery Service.
  5. Web site: Shirley Jones and the Red Hen Press . Museum Wales . 5 August 2023 . en.
  6. Web site: Press Office . 7 March 2024 . Celebrated book artist donates life's work to university archives . 9 March 2024 . Cardiff University News.
  7. Shirley Jones, Five Flowers for my Father (The Red Hen Press, 1990)
  8. https://archive.org/details/shirley-jones-journey/page/n9/mode/2up Shirley Jones (2019). Mezzotint and the Artist's Book: a forty year journey (The Red Hen Press), p. vi.
  9. https://archive.org/details/jones-rhymes-for-our-times/page/n27/mode/2up Shirley Jones (1979). Rhymes for our Times
  10. https://archive.org/details/jones-soft-ground-hard-ground/page/n23/mode/2up Shirley Jones (1989). Soft Ground, Hard Ground (The Red Hen Press)
  11. https://archive.org/details/shirley-jones-journey/page/n13/mode/2up Shirley Jones (2019). Mezzotint and the Artist's Book: a forty year journey (The Red Hen Press), p. 1.
  12. https://brecon.fyinetwork.co.uk/my,8672-Shirley-Jones-and-The-Red-Hen-Press 'Shirley Jones and The Red Hen Press', FYI:Brecon (7 June 2014)
  13. https://archive.org/details/shirley-jones-journey/page/24/mode/2up Shirley Jones (2019). Mezzotint and the Artist's Book: a forty year journey (The Red Hen Press), p.24
  14. https://archive.org/details/shirley-jones-journey/page/40/mode/2up Shirley Jones (2019). Mezzotint and the Artist's Book: a forty year journey (Red Hen Press), p. 40
  15. Web site: The written word, the printed image : 25 years of The Red Hen Press : an exhibition of artist's books & prints = 25 mlynedd o The Red Hen Press : arddangosfa o lyfrau a phrintiadau arlunydd | WorldCat.org. www.worldcat.org.
  16. Web site: 'Listings' (Spring/Summer 2013)The Society of Decorative Arts Curators: Newsletter, p. 28.
  17. Web site: Neighbourly Devils / Cythreuliaid Cymdogol, 31.10.17 - 31.03.18 . 9 March 2024 . Cardiff University: Special Collections and Archives.
  18. Ronald D Patkus (2013). Shirley Jones and the Red Hen Press Vassar College, USA, p. 79.
  19. Web site: Recent Acquisition: Shirley Jones' 'The Quest'. blogs.bl.uk.
  20. https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchType=7&searchId=18717&maxResultsPerPage=25&recCount=25&recPointer=0&resultPointer=0&headingId=27156758 'Jones, Shirley, 1934 November 14-', Library of Congress Catalog
  21. https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/?click_to_search=true&commit=search&q=%22Jones%2C+Shirley%2C+1934+November+14-%22&search_field=author_cts 'Jones, Shirley, 1934 November 14-', Cornell University Catalog
  22. Web site: Artist's books of Shirley Jones and the Red Hen Press | THE GARGOYLE BULLETIN. April 8, 2013.
  23. Web site: Exhibition: Shirley Jones and the Red Hen Press, September–December 2013 | Smith College Libraries. libraries.smith.edu.
  24. Web site: 'Shirley Jones and the Red Hen Press', Friends of the Library Newsletter: Wellesley College, 2007.
  25. Web site: Digital Special Collections, "Red Hen Press: hand-printed, hand-bound artists' books from Shirley Jones' Red Hen Press". librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk/. 29 August 2023 . en.
  26. Web site: Digital Special Collections, "The Red Hen Press: hand-printed, hand-bound artists' books from Shirley Jones' The Red Hen Press". librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk/. 29 August 2023 . en.
  27. Ronald D Patkus (2013). Shirley Jones and the Red Hen Press: a bibliography by Ronald D. Patkus with commentary by the artist Vassar College, USA.
  28. Web site: Words and Prints. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk. 29 August 2023.
  29. https://archive.org/details/jones-words-and-prints Shirley Jones, Words and Prints (The Red Hen Press, 1975).
  30. Web site: Windows. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk. 29 August 2023.
  31. https://archive.org/details/jones-windows Shirley Jones, Windows (The Red Hen Press, 1977).
  32. Web site: Rhymes for our Times. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk. 29 August 2023.
  33. https://archive.org/details/jones-rhymes-for-our-times Shirley Jones, Rhymes for our Times (The Red Hen Press, 1979).
  34. Web site: Greek dance. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk. 29 August 2023.
  35. https://archive.org/details/jones-greek-dance Shirley Jones, Greek Dance (The Red Hen Press, 1980).
  36. Web site: Scop Hwīlum Sang. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk. 29 August 2023.
  37. https://archive.org/details/jones-scop-hwilum-sang Shirley Jones, Scop Hwīlum Sang (The Red Hen Press, 1983).
  38. Web site: Impressions. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk. 29 August 2023.
  39. https://archive.org/details/jones-impressions Shirley Jones, Impressions (The Red Hen Press, 1984).
  40. Web site: A Dark Side of the Sun. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk. 5 August 2023.
  41. https://archive.org/details/jones-a-dark-side-of-the-sun Shirley Jones, A Dark Side of the Sun (The Red Hen Press, 1986).
  42. Ronald D Patkus (2013). Shirley Jones and the Red Hen Press Vassar College, USA, p. 39.
  43. Web site: Ellor-Gāst. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk. 29 August 2023.
  44. https://archive.org/details/jones-ellor-gast Shirley Jones, Ellor-Gāst (The Red Hen Press, 1986).
  45. Web site: The Making of Ellor-Gāst. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk. 29 August 2023.
  46. https://archive.org/details/jones-the-making-of-ellor-gast Shirley Jones, The Making of Ellor-Gāst (The Red Hen Press, 1986).
  47. Web site: For Gladstone. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk. 5 August 2023.
  48. https://archive.org/details/jones-for-gladstone Shirley Jones, For Gladstone (The Red Hen Press, 1988).
  49. Web site: Soft ground hard ground. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk. 29 August 2023.
  50. https://archive.org/details/jones-soft-ground-hard-ground Shirley Jones, Soft Ground, Hard Ground (The Red Hen Press, 1989).
  51. Web site: Llym Awel. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk . 29 August 2023.
  52. https://archive.org/details/jones-llym-awel Shirley Jones, Llym awel (The Red Hen Press, 1993)
  53. Web site: Falls the Shadow. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk . 29 August 2023.
  54. https://archive.org/details/jones-falls-the-shadow Shirley Jones, Falls the Shadow (The Red Hen Press, 1995).
  55. Web site: Y Morgrugyn Cloff. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk . 29 August 2023.
  56. https://archive.org/details/jones-y-morgrugyn-cloff Shirley Jones, Y Morgrugyn Cloff (The Red Hen Press, 1999)
  57. Web site: Footprints. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk . 29 August 2023.
  58. https://archive.org/details/jones-footprints Shirley Jones, Footprints (The Red Hen Press, 2000)
  59. Web site: Chwedlau. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk . 29 August 2023.
  60. https://archive.org/details/jones-chwedlau Shirley Jones, Chwedlau (The Red Hen Press, 2005)
  61. Web site: Terra Contigua. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk . 29 August 2023.
  62. https://archive.org/details/jones-terra-contigua Shirley Jones, Terra Contigua (The Red Hen Press, 1995).
  63. Web site: The Quest. librarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk . 29 August 2023.
  64. https://archive.org/details/jones-the-quest Shirley Jones, The Quest (The Red Hen Press, 2016)
  65. https://archive.org/details/shirley-jones-journey/mode/2up Shirley Jones (2019). Mezzotint and the Artist's Book: a forty year journey (The Red Hen Press)

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