Painter Tracey Jones comes from a family of “makers.” An artist, an inventor, and a scientist are in her DNA. Her great-great-grandmother Ida Ellen Ruth Jones was a noted Pennsylvania folk artist. Her father was a chemist who worked in research and development for several nonstick coatings.
When her father came home from a Saturday market and tossed Jack Hamm’s seminal book, “How to Draw Animals,” on her bed and said, “Draw me something,” she did just that.
“Little did he know that would catch fire,” she said. “I absolutely adored that book. I drew almost everything in it.”
More Mural Inspiration
Jones was about 7 years old at the time. Today, more than 30 years later, she’s preparing to paint her second mural in the SHINE St Pete Mural Festival beginning Oct. 13. Over seven days, she will paint her bold, vibrant imagery on all four sides of the ticket booth on the north side of Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg.
As part of the 2022 SHINE Mural Festival Unity project, she painted the large mural “Always Forward Together” on the exterior of Brookwood Florida at 901 7th Ave. S with the help of the community.
The message suits Jones, who is big on collaboration and unifying artists across Tampa Bay. “We really try to create a bond between artists in St. Pete and Tampa,” she said. “Everyone helps one another.” (As if to punctuate that, two other mural artists show up to lend a hand at her Green Bench Monthly photo shoot.) She has done a series of paintings in collaboration with abstract Tampa artist Fabstraq, who is also featured in this year’s SHINE Festival.
Relocating to the Sunshine State
A native of Coatesville, Pa., a small town just outside Philadelphia, Jones and her young family moved to Florida in 2015 after a particularly snowy winter. They had originally planned to move to Atlanta, but a trip through Florida sold them on Tampa. She lives in Wesley Chapel, where she also works as a graphic designer.
Jones started showing her vibrant paintings and multimedia art at galleries throughout the region in 2018. Her art often reflects her African American heritage, indigenous peoples, and her earlier life abroad. She lived in Singapore for three years during middle school.
Defining her work
A couple of years ago, she had a show in Englewood, and three people separately told her that her work was “too ethnic” for the area. “What do you do with that?” she recalls asking herself. “I could either go home and paint what they wanted me to paint, or I could go home and figure out a way to keep painting what I’m painting and keep going.”
She chose the latter. “I wanted to start educating with my pieces instead of painting things that people just find visually appealing,” she said.
She created a series that colorfully depicts female mythological figures of the Yoruba people of Nigeria and other West African countries. “I wanted to bring light to a lot of the cultures that we aren’t necessarily learning about in schools,” she said. In one piece, the dark-skinned Yemaya, mother of all waters, is supported by the tentacle of an octopus as she launches from a giant blue wave.
For her SHINE 2023 mural, she plans to incorporate the image of John Donaldson, St. Petersburg’s first Black resident. Donaldson settled in lower Pinellas County in 1868 before St. Petersburg was incorporated. Jones learned about Donaldson from an African American history tour in St. Petersburg and watching related YouTtube videos.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity that SHINE has given me,” Jones said. “I hope that people will come out and join in.”
