Jon Schultz, a self-taught, Melbourne born artist, has had a life-long passion for anything colourful, creative or out of the ordinary. Ever since he can remember, he has had a fascination with faces and loves to experiment with colour.

Jon\'s early career as an earth mover and landscape gardener allowed him to apply his love of design, form and the outdoors to his daily work. He became known within the indsutry for his attention to detail. Jon smiles as he talks of \'sculpting the earth with his mechanical paintbrush\' whilst operating his machines.

Jon dreamed of life as an artist since childhood, and despite a successful earth moving business, he reached a time when he could no longer ignore his inner calling. In 2011, with the support of his family, the decision was made to move to Noosa and focus on pursuing a career as a fulltime artist.

When initially meeting Jon, he is unassuming and entertaining, with a good sense of humour. His relaxed and friendly nature puts people as ease and conversation flows easily. When discussion moves more specifically to his work, Jon becomes calm and focused and his passion for his paintings becomes quickly evident as he gives deliberate, contemplated answers. Jon talks enthusiastically as he describes his technique, preferred materials and personal artistic vision and process. Jon states \'One of the things I look forward to the most is having a blank canvas and making those first few marks. From there, it\'s very hard to stop. It becomes a bit of an obsession. I\'m always looking forward to what the next colour will reveal and what each stroke will bring the painting\'.

Jon\'s inspiration for his current abstracts has come from his love of vibrant colours and texture.\'In my abstracts, I introduce layer upon layer of paint with brushes, my fingers, steel, rags and large homemade screeds. The more time spent looking at my paintings, the more you will see, an an eclectic mix of colours and layers reveal themselves\'.

It is intriguing to discover that Jon has two distinct styles of work that are as different as they are beautiful. His abstracts are subtle and stylish, and Jon also creates bright, bold, contemporary portraits. When viewed side by side, it is impressive to realise both styles were created in the same studio, by the one artist. Such diversity and contrast, each with their own unique appeal.

Jon does not limit himself to conventional methods, inherent in all his work, is Jon\'s sense of freedom to explore and express himself trhough his art. Jon explains that ...\'my best paitings come from not thinking, just feeling\'.

Time spent appreciating and admiring Jon\'s work reinforces his raw talent. He has an instinctive understanding of layering and texture. Jon starts with a solid foundation of underlying colours which he patiently builds upon. The final result is a vast array of inviting colours and enticing dimensions.