PEOPLE
“Art is a quintessentially human activity, made by beings fraught with longing and loss. It acts as a looking glass for society - showing us who we are. This definition of art fits Pete Jones like a glove: his work emerges directly from his experience of other human beings, seen in all their vulnerability and mortality - yet still astonishingly present. In time I am quite sure that Pete Jones will come to be identified as an important national treasure.”
Ed Povey, 2019
Gweithiais fel Nyrs Anabledd Dysgu am 30 mlynedd. Yn ystod y cyfnod hwn cyfarfûm â llawer o bobl hynod. Dechreuodd fy ngyrfa yn Ysbyty Bryn y Neuadd ym 1986. Tua diwedd fy ngyrfa nyrsio dechreuais beintio rhai o'r bobl roeddwn i'n eu hadnabod, gan ddefnyddio hen ffotograffau ac atgofion gweledol cryf.
"Mae gwaith Pete yn dal cymeriad pobl ag anabledd dysgu fel dim artist arall" - Mencap Cymru, Mehefin 2023
I worked as a Learning Disability Nurse for 30 years. During this time I met many extraordinary people. My career began at Bryn y Neuadd Hospital in 1986. Towards the end of my nursing career I began to paint some of the people that I had known, using old photographs and strong visual memories.
"Pete's work captures the character of people with a learning disability like no other artist" - Mencap Cymru, June 2023
Lleolir Ysbyty Bryn-y-Neuadd ym mhentref Llanfairfechan ar arfordir gogleddol Cymru. Roedd yr ysbyty hwn yn un o lawer ledled y wlad a oedd yn rhan o system hanesyddol o wahanu sefydliadol. Mae'r cannoedd lawer o bobl a fu'n byw (ac yn marw) trwy'r system hon yn cael eu hanghofio i raddau helaeth. Roedd y system yn ddad-ddyneiddio ac anogwyd unigoliaeth, "Triniaeth Bloc" oedd trefn y dydd.....byddai hunaniaethau personol yn cael eu herydu ac weithiau'n cael eu colli. ...Cwrddais â phobl anhygoel trwy gydol y cyfnod hwn. Rwyf wedi ceisio a pharhau i geisio creu cofnod gweledol o boblogaeth goll, cofnod o gymeriad a dynoliaeth pobl y bydd eu hanes i raddau helaeth yn cael ei anghofio. Un person o'r fath oedd Joseph Roy Bevans. Cymeriad oedd Joe. Mewn môr o anhrefn, roedd Joe yn sefyll allan.
Bryn-y-Neuadd Hospital is situated in the village of Llanfairfechan on the Northern coast of Wales. This hospital was one of many across the country which was part of a historical system of institutional segregation. The many hundreds of people who lived (and died) through this system are largely forgotten.The system was dehumanising and individuality was discouraged, "Block treatment" was the order of the day.....personal identities were eroded and sometimes lost....I met some incredible people throughout this period. I have tried and continue try to create a visual record of a lost population, a record of the character and humanity of people who's history will largely be forgotten. One such person was Joseph Roy Bevans. Joe was a character. In a sea of chaos, Joe stood out.
"Joseph Roy Bevans" Acrylic on canvas, 98cm x 98cm (2017). National Library of Wales Collection, Aberystwyth.
FILM - "A HIDDEN PORTRAIT"
(It's My Shout productions)
Link to a documentary film by Paul Hunt about the background to my portrait of Joe Bevans (first shown on BBC2 Wales).
Roedd David yn gymeriad hyfryd oedd yn gwisgo het a sgarff drwy’r dydd, bob dydd, beth bynnag oedd y tywydd (dwi’n meddwl efallai ei fod wedi gwisgo ei het i’r gwely yn y nos hefyd ond mae fy nghof yn methu). Roedd ei het yn gorchuddio ei lygaid glas hardd, tyllu, llygaid nad oedd llawer o bobl yn cael eu gweld. Ar gyfer y paentiad ei hun defnyddiais baent olew, a oedd yn anodd i mi ar y pryd ei ddefnyddio, gan ffafrio uniongyrchedd a rhinweddau sychu acrylig. Mae gan ffrâm bren y paentiad ei stori ei hun fel y deuthum o hyd iddo, yn hen a'r tywydd wedi ei guro, mewn clawdd ar gyrion Pen Llyn. Ar ôl cwblhau'r paentiad sylwais ar y ffrâm yn y stiwdio a gosodais y paentiad a oedd, er mawr syndod i mi, yn ffitio nid yn unig yn gorfforol ond yn gwella (dwi'n meddwl) y ddelwedd o ddyn a oedd ei hun wedi'i "hwyntio" gan ffawd ac amser. Cysga mewn hedd David.
David was a lovely character who wore is hat and scarf all day, every day, whatever the weather (I think he might have worn his hat to bed at night also but my memory fails). His hat permanently covered his beautiful, piercing blue eyes, eyes that very few people got to see. For the painting itself I used oil paint, which at the time, I found difficult to use, preferring the immediacy and drying qualities of acrylic. The wooden frame of the painting has it's own story as I found it, old and weather beaten, in a hedgerow at the very edge of Pen Llyn. On completion of the painting I noticed the frame in the studio and inserted the painting which, to my surprise, fitted not only physically but enhanced (I think) the image of a man who himself had been "weathered" by fate and time. RIP David.
"Het a Sgarff" (Hat and Scarf) Oil on Board, 73cm x 56 cm (2018) National Museum of Wales Collection, Cardiff.
"Panad" (Cuppa) Acrylic on Board, 48cm x 38cm (2017). National Museum of Wales Collection, Cardiff.
Some things that are unimportant to most people can have huge significance for others.
"Holding the stone", Oil on Paper 58cm x 88cm (2018). National Museum of Wales Collection, Cardiff.
" 5 Orange Chairs", Acrylic on Board, 87cm x 54cm (2018). National Museum of Wales Collection, Cardiff.
"Roger" Acrylic on Board, 48cm x 40cm (2016). National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.
"Dafydd" Acrylic on Board, 49cm x 39cm (2016). National Museum of Wales Collection, Cardiff.
"John" Acrylic on Board, 39cm x 48cm (2016). National Museum of Wales Collection, Cardiff.
"Eric" Acrylic on canvas, 58cm x 48cm. (2017). National Museum of Wales Collection, Cardiff.
"Therapeutic meal" Acrylic on Canvas, 83cm x 62cm (2018). National Museum of Wales Collection, Cardiff.
"Gary" Acrylic on Board, 46cm x 37cm (2016). National Museum of Wales Collection, Cardiff.
"Henry", Oil on Canvas, 58cm x 49cm (2017). National Museum of Wales Collection, Cardiff.
"Untitled Portrait" Oil on Canvas, 76cm x 51cm (2019). National Museum of Wales Collection, Cardiff.
FILM
During 2022, I met with Mared McAleavey of the National Museum of Wales to discuss the background to the paintings which are now part of the collections of the National Museum and National Library of Wales. This forms the basis of a short film (Link below)
FFILM
Ffilm yn Cymraeg am beintiadau a ysbrydolwyd gan fy mhrofiad o weithio fel nyrs mewn ysbyty arhosiad hir. Rhai yn awr yn nghasgliadau y Llyfrgell Cenedlaethol a Amgueddfa Cymru
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4FcrIt5bDI
Roeddwn yn gweithio i beintio portread o gyn "breswylydd" yn ysbyty Bryn y Neuadd. Roeddwn i'n gweithio o gyfres o ffotograffau a fy atgof gweledol fy hun o'r person. Roeddwn wedi bod yn ceisio gweithio ar yr wyneb a'r nodweddion ers peth amser, gan osod haenau o baent a'i rwbio i ffwrdd. Yn aml iawn rwy'n cael trafferth gwybod pryd i stopio ar baentiad ond daeth pwynt imi sylweddoli bod wyneb heb ei ddatrys efallai wedi gwneud datganiad gweledol mwy dwys ynghylch yr erydiad a cholli hunaniaeth bersonol a ddigwyddodd i gynifer o filoedd o bobl. wedi'i labelu fel un ag "anabledd dysgu" ac a oedd yn byw (a marw) yn y system ysbytai.
"Unresolved portrait", Acrylic on canvas (Privately owned)
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