Merrilea Jones

Merrilea Jones Merrilea Jones moved to Springfield, Oregon in 2004 after retiring from a 30 year career in County Government in Salt Lake City, Utah. After retirement, she and her husband, Chris Mackay, decided to make a change in their lives by moving to Oregon. “We needed green and living in a hot desert was not what we wanted for the remainder of our lives.” After settling in Springfield, Merrilea was persuaded to take an acrylic painting class and learned the basics of painting reality but eventually grew restless with painting exactly what a photo depicted. “I always wanted to change something, a different color, move a rock, paint a tree and always felt frustrated and unfulfilled. I found, over time, that I did not have to be perfect; abstract painting gave me freedom to paint how I felt and not “color within the lines” that convention dictates. A whole new world of abstract painting suddenly opened up for me – I had discovered my muse.” Merrilea’s abstract work is bright, bold and fun. Creations that are full of dynamic shapes, textures and colors that is open for interpretation to the viewer. “It is difficult to place your paintings on a wall for the world to see because, especially with abstracts, everyone sees something different. That is what I hope to happen with my work. I want to evoke a reaction from the viewer and hope they see my joy, sense of humor and complete freedom of expression that I have when picking up a brush, choosing colors and applying paint to a canvas.” [/vc_column_text][vc_masonry_media_grid element_width="3" grid_id="vc_gid:1516391413455-ad20c7cf-d4f3-5" include="2554,2555,2556,2557,2558"]