JON ELLIOTT

Jon Elliott had an interest in art since he was a toddler. In fact, he drew family Christmas cards (75 of them) when he was a year old with the help of a pack of index cards and three crayons. Although he started to cry half-way through, his mother insisted that he continue working away at his high chair easel. When he was two, he designed the wallpaper (dinosaurs) for his bedroom wall while being supported on a ladder. As the years went by he continued to do art, creating story books and winning school art prizes. When he graduated from high school, he began attending the University of Miami, majoring in English and minoring in Anthropology. He decided that he did not know what career to choose. He asked his father for some advice about a possible career major. His father suggested that since he had been interested in art for his entire life, that he might change his major to art. Jon then submitted an application to Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida. He was accepted at Ringling and studied there for two years until he made the decision to move to the West Coast. He applied to Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, and was accepted. Two years later, Jon was ready to graduate, when his life changed forever. At his part-time job, he fell through the roof  of the building that was being constructed and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He was in a coma for four and a half months in a Portland hospital. When he was released, he was taken back to his home in Michigan. He was now confined to a wheelchair and although he has been left-handed for his entire life, he was now partially paralyzed on his left side. Whereas he had created carved wooden slabs with with raised dimensional figures, he was no longer able to hold the tools to carve so he began to paint only. He had to hold the brushes by taping them to his right hand. Having overcome the loss of the use of his former dominant left hand by training the right, he began to paint every day. Although Jon has now moved to Florida, he continues to paint daily and has created dozens of colorful and unique paintings. One thing that has not changed throughout Jon's art life is his sense of humor which is reflected in his work. 

Also, check out Jon's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/artyjon/