Rusty Jones at Pitzer's Fine Arts

Texas based artist, Rusty Jones, traces his earliest influence to his grandmother who was the first to place a paintbrush in his hands and encourage his interest in art. He vividly remembers her studio on the second floor of a historic home that once served as a stagecoach stop just outside of San Antonio. She would set up still lifes for him to draw or take him outside where she would set up her French easel and paint landscapes. "She had a crusty, difficult personality and could be as mean as a barnyard billy-goat, but when she began to paint you could see the joy in her face as she glided her brush across the canvas."

Rusty graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biomedical Communications and the University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas with a Masters of Science Degree in Medical Illustration. He is a Certified Medical Illustrator and a Fellow of the Association of Medical Illustrators. For over three decades Rusty provided highly technical medical art for major pharmaceutical companies, medical product companies, medical journals, surgical atlases and ad agencies.
Rusty's love of sports led him into sporting art which landed him illustration assignments with such notable magazines as Golf Illustrated, Golf Magazine, the Golf Journal, the Masters Journal and American Way Magazine. He also provided sports art for the Coca-Cola Foods Division for the Summer Olympics, the Dallas Cowboys NFL team and the Dallas Mavericks NBA team.

Now Rusty focuses his artistic skills painting the Western American landscape. Following in the tradition of John Singer Sargent, Julian Onderdonk, Portofino Salinas, Edgar Payne and many other great American painters Rusty travels throughout the country painting the landscapes before him. "Painting outdoors takes passion. Without it the wind, heat, snow and bugs will drive you indoors. I enjoy my time in the studio, but it doesn't make my heart race like it does when I am outside."