Derek Jones

Derec was born and brought up in Llanelli and has lived and worked in and around the town for most of his life. He has also lived in Manchester and London, and has spent more than 20 years on and off living in Cardiff. His first foray into making art came in infants’ (possibly early primary?) school where a colourful drawing of his made it into an exhibition in Parc Howard.

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After that, apart from endless doodles and scribbles, he didn’t return to making art until the turn of the millennium. Before then his main passion was writing. Along the way Derec studied for a Masters Degree in Creative Writing in Trinity College, Carmarthen, and has published novels, poetry, short stories, articles, and in blogs and online magazines. Derec studied Sociology with the Open University and later studied Art, Media Production and Adult Education at Coleg Sir Gar, and has written, produced and directed plays for the stage and short films. 

 

After completing the MA and the Media Production Courses, he also started painting, and since then has produced a lot of work, much of it abstract acrylic and oil, but he also paints portraits and landscapes. He has exhibited in galleries and solo and group exhibitions in Llanelli and Cardiff. He also had his own mini-gallery in the Wholefood shops he ran in Cardiff. Along the way he has sold much of his work to private collectors via galleries and commissions. Much of Derec’s work is inspired by the natural environment and/or the creatures that have evolved to live in it.

Some of his work, both visual and literary, is displayed on his website derecjones.com.