Island Arts Week 2013, Gill Jones Photographer
by Jo Quinney
Gill Jones, wedding, baby, portrait photography and fine art images, Rhosneigr, Anglesey
The development of digital photography has shaped Anglesey photographer Gill Jones as she embraces technology to create new work for the Anglesey Arts Weeks Open Studios and Galleries this Easter. Her work is in the Anglesey Arts Forum members’ exhibition at the Ucheldre Centre, Holyhead, which opens on Saturday 9 March. Following her early education at Holyhead High School, Gill studied Audio Visual Studies at Wrexham and Ealing, going to work for a successful media company on Carnaby Street, London. "I was in the darkroom making 35mm slides to create large panoramic animated images before digital and video. The lights went down, the projectors started to whirr and the images started to flash up. It was a beautiful industry to work in," says Gill. She moved to Australia, working for another media company before going to work for an art gallery. "When I returned to the UK, the industry had moved from film to digital. It was a shock; I didn’t fit in any longer. I picked up a new digital camera and had to learn almost from scratch. I took an A level in photography and became absorbed. I found I could be enormously creative with my camera," says Gill. Gill returned to live at Rhosneigr, on Anglesey, with her family and has built a creative wedding photography business. "Last year was the first year I joined the Anglesey Arts Forum. My lovely next-door neighbour, artist Val Lynch, invited me to join an exhibition with her and Kal Johnson at our local Village Hall, Llanfaelog. I had never exhibited anything before. I have many personal fine art images and I wanted to interact with the public about my photographs. People came to engage in conversation about art and I was blown away by this," says Gill. The exhibition held at Llanfaelog Village Hall, from 29 March to 1 April, At least one piece of work from every Anglesey Arts Weeks participant will be on show at the Ucheldre Centre, Holyhead, from 9 March to 7 April and at the David Hughes Centre, Beaumaris, from 23 March to 7 April. Other exhibitions will be held at Art Space in Holyhead, Canolfan Beaumaris, H’Artworks in Beaumaris, Oriel Daniel Gallery in Llangefni, Oriel Glyn Davies in Menai Bridge and Oriel Ynys Môn in Llangefni. Exhibitions and studios are open on various days and at different times with information available online or in the widely distributed forty-eight page colour Guide. A PDF copy is also available to download online at www.angleseyartsforum.org/en/ Funding from project supporters has allowed the development of the website and the design, print and distribution of the Guide, and has supported the promotion of the event. The project has received funding through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007–2013, which is funded by the Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Anglesey Arts Weeks Open Studios are divided into Clusters to help artists work together in a locality. Gill is a member of the Rhosneigr Cluster. Artists in the Rhosneigr Cluster also include: Jayne Huskisson, Judith Donaghy, Val Lynch and Kal Johnson. "When you are working on a creative project, you squirrel away at it alone. Then at our exhibition you meet a complete stranger, they are interested in your project and a whole dialogue springs up. I thoroughly enjoy this whole process," said Gill. This tenth annual artist event is spread over the two full weeks of Easter: Saturday 23 March to Sunday 7 April 2013. For further details, daily schedules, member profiles, images and information about the studios, go to: http://www.angleseyartsforum.org
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