Jay was born in the seaport city of Cape Town, South Africa. With its majestic mountains, coastline and vibrant colorful culture, these elements made a distinct impression during his childhood. Jay used his passion for art, capturing the sea and everyday city life, using oils as his medium of choice, he often captures this through an impressionist art style. Constantly drawing as a child, his earliest and fondest moments were sketches and drawings at school. Jay has commissioned works of art for those who enjoy tropical seascapes and people-watching. Without formal training, the French impressionists became his teachers. Monet in particular. Preferring full colors and bold painting strokes, Jay uses brilliant colors to capture his style of everyday life.
Statement
Overall, my work is a creative process, using loose brush strokes working with varied subjects to evoke either a mood or feeling. I take considerable time planning out my paintings before I start painting with a brush, working out compositions and the color combinations that will most effectively capture the drama of the painting. I work with a limited palette, which I mix into a wide variety of hues and values appropriate to the scene I am creating.
I like painting things happening in everyday life, mostly common everyday objects, actions or forgotten items we see and observe during our daily hustle and bustle, In this chaos of what we call everyday life, we pass scenes we hardly think twice about. It’s ether the person in the car in front of you, the man walking his dog on the beach or people running errands or palm trees swaying with an oncoming storm. Sometimes these are the very things we need to appreciate. Lastly I am inspired by my beautiful wife, who brings energy into that why i do.
