Jaclyn's Journey

     

"I feel like every day that I lived before the day that I started painting, was lived simply to prepare me for the day that I did"  - Jaclyn  

Jaclyn Lontos is a self-taught abstract artist whose love of colour and texture informs all aspects of her art. Jaclyn uses a variety of media, including paints, inks and even fabrics, which she applies to archival paper or fibreboard to create her impressive collages.

Rather than sticking to one aesthetic, Jaclyn’s art collections are as diverse as the materials she uses to create them. From the bountiful botanical scenes of With Me While I’m Gone, the flowing fabric illusions of Flannel Channel, the pops of fun that The Elementals bring, to the joyful tapestries of Ain't Life Grand. Jaclyn feels total joy when creating her art, and it is her hope that her art makes you feel the same.

In 2011, with no experience in art whatsoever, Jaclyn expressed to a friend that she “just feels like I need to paint”. Jaclyn had no idea why this feeling kept overcoming her, but her (very generous) friend proceeded to gift her, her first art kit - complete with an easel, paints, brushes, artist’s wooden box and more!

Jaclyn, who at the time was working as a Lawyer, promptly proceeded to... do absolutely nothing with her art gift. Too “busy” with her “proper” job and life, Jaclyn’s easel slowly found its way from the corner of her bedroom to being stored under the staircase .. and in the years that followed, whilst the nagging feeling to paint was never far away, Jaclyn instead busied herself by qualifying as a Barrister, getting married, and having three children. Alas, life left little (no) time for much else!

In 2019, the life that Jaclyn had been building for almost a decade was devastatingly interrupted when her marriage ended. Only a few months later, whilst trying to navigate her new world, with three small boys in tow, another life interruption descended upon us all - and the world of Covid began... The stunning combination of both a personal and global reckoning called upon Jaclyn to deep dive into herself.. Who am I? What do I want from this life? 

 At first Jaclyn was overcome with the need to write.. she found herself purging her thoughts and pain through words -  poems, reflections, essays..

But in early 2021, at a Mother's Day luncheon, Jaclyn listened to a panel of women speak of how they were living their dream - one of these women was well known artist, Antoinette Ferwerda.  Whilst listening to Antoinette speak, Jaclyn felt a deep knowing stir inside her - she recalled her cast aside easel and small wooden box of brushes - she felt restless and charged - she knew it was her soul again tapping her on the shoulder and saying - There is something here for you - And so it began... a few days after this event.. Jaclyn pulled out her easel and wooden box, she bought some paints.. she started painting.. and her life began again.

In the creation of art Jaclyn finds a meditative solace.. a deep peace and joy. Jaclyn describes her paintings and poetry simply as her "insides put on paper".. Every piece of art Jaclyn creates is a testament to her commitment to live a fully authentic and fully expressed life.

"Sometimes when you're in a dark place, you think that you have been buried, but actually you have been planted "  -  Christine Caine