Awareness Post - Abreesha Jones

Chocolate Expressions, 30H x 40W x 2 in, Acrylic on Canvas

Fearless Expanded, 48H x 60W x 2 in, Acrylic, Oil Pastel on Canvas

For this post, I chose to highlight the work of Abreesha Jones. Jones grew up in Moreno Valley, California, and began her artistic journey in high school. She moved on to attend the Otis College of Art + Design in Los Angeles for her undergrad and was able to establish a full-time career as a painter. However, she ultimately decided to put this on pause to further her education and focus on family, as she received her Bachelor's degree from UC Riverside and a Master's in Social Work at Cal State University, Northridge. Jones’s work has been in a number of exhibitions, most recently including the Valence Project “Fever” at the Andaz and Black in Every Color Exhibitions, both held in Los Angeles in 2023. She also has participated in several other events such as being on the Coach Lynn Podcast in 2023, the MVC Martin Luther King Jr. silent art auction from 2018-2020, and an Art Gallery Paint Night held in Los Angeles.

The reason I wanted to highlight Abresha Jones's work is because of the resilient spirit she puts into her art. What makes her work is unique in not only her technique, but also the way her passion and perseverance bleed through every stroke she makes. Jones puts herself into her work, and it connects to the community in a personal way. This is noticeable in both of Jones’s paintings seen above. Particularly in Chocolate Expressions, I admire the rawness of her brush strokes, giving the painting an interesting touch of texture and rhythm. While this is also evident in Fearless Expanded, I like this particular piece because of the way the colors blend with one another. There is no single color on the canvas. These aspects of techniques and abilities that I want to be able to work on in my own art, as pulling inspiration from Abreesha Jones would allow me to make my artwork more enjoyable and relatable to viewers.