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Jones' version of the 'Baptism.'
Some people paint a
picture with words.
But Freddie Nell Jones
can take a story and
set it to life with her
paintbrush.
Jones has oen given life
to others' long-ago memories
by creating photograph-type
paintings from their stories.
Such was the case when an
acquaintance asked her to
paint his grandmother's old,
plantation-style home. The
problem was that he had no
photos to go by – only the
remembrances of distant
childhood. That wasn't a
problem for Jones.
"He was about 30 years old,
and he remembered everything
about his grandmother,"
Jones said. "I told him, 'Tell me
about it.' He told me about the
clothesline, the wash pot and
where his grandmother picked
coon. I painted the scene from
his memories."
Similarly, Jones brought to
life Randy Travis' country hit
"Baptism" with her paintbrush.
She painted a Sunday dinner
on church grounds, with Travis
as a young boy waiting to be
baptized in a pond.
"The man in the picture was
my grandfather, who was a
Baptist minister," Jones said.
"On the riverbank, I added a
man who is supposed to be my
dad. Even my mother is in the
painting, with me in pigtails."
Many artists require a photo
from which to paint, but Jones
needs only her imagination.
"I'm a very visual person, and
Samples of Jones' artwork in her den.
