Born in Jamaica, Queens, TeeJay holds a BA with honors in Art Education from Pratt Institute and a Masters in Administrative/Educational Leadership from Walden University. A self-taught artist, he has been painting for over 4 decades. Never actually having a studio, he paints wherever he can find a space in his home. His passion lies in creating art, as well as is in teaching it, and his work has been privately commissioned.
TeeJay uses traditional mediums (which include pastels, acrylics and oils) but favors pastel. TeeJay has an uncanny realism that conveys the human anatomy. He is currently the Education Administrative Supervisor as well as the art teacher at the Barry Robinson Center in Norfolk, Virginia. A native of New York City, he now resides in Virginia Beach, VA.
TeeJay has done work for the Virginia State Reading Association; The School Beautification Initiative and the Merrimack Lifeskills Project in Hampton, Virginia; and The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Rhinebeck, NY. He was the developer and Director of the AIM Gallery at the Maplebrook School in Amenia, NY. He was also a recipient of the Hampton Roads Education Foundation Innovative Teacher/Instructional Grant. He has won Best of Show at The Artists Gallery in Virginia Beach and Honorable Mention at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts in Suffolk,VA. Additionally, TeeJay’s work has been displayed at the Charles H. Taylor Gallery in Hampton, Virginia; The Thought Forms Underground Gallery in New York, NY; The Russell Simmons Gallery in New York, NY; The AIM Gallery in Amenia, NY; The Schaffler Gallery in Brooklyn, NY; The Kent Art Association in Kent, CT; The Artists Gallery in Virginia Beach, Virginia; and Standard Space Gallery in Sharon, CT.
ARTIST STATEMENT
When it comes to my art, each piece has its own voice. For me, perspective is not absolute, but rather functions as a lock. Emotional vulnerability is the key. Connections we make with art are exclusive. The question becomes, “What do you hear when the art speaks?”. As an artist, I recognize the gift people like myself have. My body of work, as far as style is concerned, has a slightly eclectic approach. I cannot simply avoid how I feel personally or about the subject of the moment. I simply use the mood and that moment in my work. This is by no means an indication that there’s a lack of consistency to my pieces. It is simply that I bring to each piece a true part of myself and what that subject brings out in me. I am also constantly aware of the fact that as an artist, I am continuing to grow and learn so, as in life, my work evolves.
View TeeJay Jones’s collection at the Stravitz Gallery.