Works Of Local Artist Comes To Chester Library In October

For some, art may be an elusive beast; but there are those who just have a knack for it.

That seems to be the case for Susan Scarince Jones, a local Washington Township artist who settled into the wooded serenity of Schooley's Mountain in Long Valley during the 1970s with her husband and children. Jones, whose work is currently on display as part of a showcase featuring local artists at the Washington Township Library, worked in the field of graphic arts and advertising, but she dedicates much of her time now to fine arts, creating mixed media pieces, and photo books, something she just fell into one day a few years ago when she met a little chipmunk.

About three years, Jones wanted to get into digital photography. She bought a nighttime camera but she didn't really know how to use it so she thought, why not take it out for a spin. There she was, in her backyard just shooting this and that when all of a sudden, this little chipmunk shows up.

"He's kind of looking at me and I thought, why don't I just try to take pictures of him? So I ran inside and got some peanuts and the next thing I know, I'm taking pictures of him," Jones recounted recently.

The chipmunk seemed to be a natural in front of the camera, and soon enough, Jones thought it'd be cute to set up a little backdrop for him. She went inside and grabbed old toys her kids had left behind from when they were young, firetrucks and such. The chipmunk would just go right in and sit and almost pose.

"I never really noticed chipmunks because they just zoom by you at 90 mph and you think, what was that?? But this guy, he was eating really well [the peanuts]--he'll be getting heart failure from all the goodies he's been getting!" Jones said, laughing.

When she looked back at the image, Jones found them to be interesting enough to showcase so she created a photo series about Skippy ChipMunk. She even designed the book herself and is currently self-publishing the series, now available on Amazon as well.

The other work Jones spends her time doing will be on display at the Chester Library in Chester come October. Her mixed media work, inspired by her surroundings like Long Valley--"almost everything I was painting had a tree in it, or a landscape"--and her trips. She recently hung a painting at the Washington Township Library called Cambria, inspired by the vineyards in California.

"It was in the fall, so the gold and the rolling mountains, that was really inspiring to me," she said. "The southwest is a big inspiration for my work as well. Metal collages and a lot of earth tones."

For Jones, art has always been a means of venting, especially when she hears something about the environment that concerns her.

"I say, I'll go paint, I'll feel better," Jones explained. "Art is a very good escape and art is good for the soul!"

Take a look at her work, to be displayed the first week of October through the rest of the month at the Chester Library, and you'll see how it can transform your own soul.

Image via Susan Scarince Jones, used with permission.