A Resident Artist's Story

It’s 10 AM on Monday morning and the Terrace Level Activity Room is quiet except for the patter of footsteps back and forth to the supply cabinet and sink. This scene is repeated often throughout the week, be it morning or afternoon.

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Resident, Ivor Jones, finds the solitude, lighting and expansive work area in the Terrace Level Activity Room to his liking and has made it his own personal studio. In this area,he has explored all types of creative past times and wonders why others have not taken advantage of this hidden gem.Born in Wales, Ivor attended the University of Edinburgh, Scotland for medical school. He later came to the U.S. on a Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Washington, where he met his future wife, Jean, a Russian teacher. Though he had a busy professional career, Ivor found time to pursue his hobbies: cabinet making and landscaping.Since coming to Springwell, he finds time and joy in learning more about watercolor painting. He is a regular at Sister Gerrie’s Watercolor class and according to Sister - he is an eager student. He is often willing to repaint a scene he has been working on to get just the right coloring or perspective. Ivor is responsible for painting many of the animal sculptures sprinkled throughout the Springwell gardens. He is an avid painter of bird houses with each one being a little bit different, depending on his mood.More recently, Ivor undertook a garden sculpture at the request of his daughter-in-law, Tanya. It seems she found a piece of lattice work at a surplus store and brought it to Ivor with a vision of what it could become. After cutting some copper pipe, joining some crossbeams and building a frame, the lattice work emerged as a piece of art that anyone would be proud to display in a garden. As it happens, this work of art will be admired by many when his son and daughter-in-law’s garden is on display for the garden tour next spring.