Meet Danny Jones | Artist, Musician & Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Danny Jones and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danny, as a parent, what do you feel is the most meaningful thing you’ve done for them?
I am the very lucky and happy father of my one and only beautiful daughter, Marina Jones, who is quite artistic and creative in her own right. She will be graduating high school this June and was recently accepted to CCA (California College of the Arts), San Francisco. I am so proud of her for this and so many of her other life achievements.

I would say the most important thing I did for her, even though there are many, would be letting her be herself in all aspects of life.
Starting with when she was very young, like preschool or kindergarten, she was allowed to express herself however she wanted, within reason of course. For example, when it came to picking her own clothes to wear for the day. I won’t lie some of her choices were pretty wild for some people’s taste. Yet I didn’t forbid it because I could already see her creative side developing and I did not want to interrupt that growth.

She quickly took a big interest in art and music. Funny how that works being I’m an artist and a musician myself. Osmosis is a huge factor. Something all parents should be really aware of I think. Children are such sponges and their environment greatly shapes who we’ll grow to be and determines the environment that we’ll create for our own children in the future. It’s a cycle and the most important one. It all starts with the young and the old are responsible for that.

The other thing which I believe, and I must mention as well as incredibly important to the raising and parenting of a child, is always make them believe in themselves. Avoid saying they can’t do something. Again within reason. Always tell them they can. Even if they are scared or you yourself are uncertain. Challenge them to make the effort to try. My daughter recently turned 18 years old and got a chance for the first time to tandem skydive for free with friends. My first thought was are you serious?! This initial type of reaction is based on my own fears and perception of what is and isn’t possible in my own life, not hers. So I told her she should go and if she changed her mind on the way that was OK too. I also said I would be impressed if she went through with it. Low and behold she did it! She said it was the greatest spiritual experience of her life thus far. Then I was jealous at that point. No thank you though… I’ll keep both feet firmly planted on the ground. I am so proud of her for that though. I don’t care who you are, that’s a big deal in my book!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Being an artist or a creative person doesn’t necessarily mean working a nine to five job and punching in and out of a clock. I sort of feel ‘on call’ if you will, all the time. I could be inspired at any given moment whether it be taking a photograph or working on a painting or hearing a tune in my head that I need to sit down with a guitar to figure out. Since I run my own business I don’t want to cheat myself of those moments. Just never know what might come out of it. Discipline is important to achieve anything. As well as commitment. Especially if you’re self employed. Fear is just an illusion and not an actual obstacle in front of you. I try to live by these ideas in my professional career. I also remind myself to take it easy on myself at the same time. It seems that in my life when one door closes another then opens. Taking chances and risks too, even if that means rejection somewhere along the line. The world won’t know you’re out there unless you put yourself out there. The most important thing is to never give up.

I love art and music and I am very inspired by both. My artwork is then naturally based around music. More specifically individuals throughout popular music history. These works are pop-culture in style and mostly poster size (20”x 30”) giving a mural kind of feeling. Using black monolithic images derived and influenced from iconic pictures throughout time from the 1920’s on to present time. They are matched with colorful and expressive backgrounds that speak to the subject matter, the times, and/or the message being conveyed. You can find my ever growing collection at… DJonesArtCollection.com
and my other social media at @djonesartcollection
@djones71photography

Growing up I was really inspired by Andy Warhol, Ansel Adams and Salvador Dalí. I still am! I think that shows in my work. Warhol’s use of stark contrasts between colors and Dalí’s strange and fantasy realism are just captivating to me. Adam’s use of shadows is just superb. I wanted to take the elements I see and am influenced by in their work and create something of my own. This is what I have set out to do and will continue to pursue. My pieces are also tributes to artists I admire and whom I find fascinating. Within them there are often hidden messages like song titles via images, where they originate from or even social climate during that time.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is a tough one really since there is so much to do around here. Being a product of Southern California my whole life I have experienced a good portion of what it has to offer here and more than once. I was born in Santa Monica and raised in Venice. Therefore the beach would have to probably be our first stop. I love being immersed in the multicultural and bohemian vibe at Venice Beach. Breakfast on the boardwalk and people watching was a mainstay of my youth with my Mom. So I would definitely share that. Then maybe on to Tito’s Tacos for lunch and then The Paul Getty Museum the (I-405 location). There is a smaller one in Malibu also. Both locations have incredible artwork, sculptures, furniture collected by the estate. I would highly recommend this place to anyone who loves art and history if they ever visit L.A.

For the evening adventures Hollywood is always entertaining! People watching of course yet so much more. Sunset Strip is lined with clubs for comedy and music, tattoo parlors and restaurants. Maybe we catch a live show at the world famous Whiskey-A-Go Go. Then stop by for a celebratory drink at the equally famous Rainbow Bar & Grill. Never know who you might see in there.

For some of our other adventures during the visit we would of course hit Disneyland and Universal Studios for a day. As well as Crypto Center for a LA Kings hockey game. I love nature and the outdoors and there is some of the most beautiful areas anywhere for hiking through trails. Santa Monica mountains is one. Ventura also has some gorgeous places for that. One in particular that I love is Corriganville Movie Ranch Park in Simi Valley. Once upon a time it competed with Disneyland as an amusement park attraction in the 1960s. Many of the golden era films were shot at this location. Such as old western movies, Robin Hood and Tarzan films. None of the sets exist today except for the concrete foundations of the old structures and a dried up man made lake and river bed. Yet there are acres of trails and giant rocks and caves to explore. There are groves of very old oak trees that have a wonderful and nice shady energy. That’s my favorite place in the whole park. It’s also dog friendly! Our family has brought ours there with us and they loved it!

I could go on and on here. The bottom line is there is so much here to do. Art exhibits, live shows, music and concerts, television show recordings, outdoor activities, nightlife fun, museums, restaurants. You name it we’ve probably got it! The best part is so many other locations are within a relatively close proximity to us. Within a four hour drive you can be in the mountains snow skiing, or San Diego soaking up the ocean air. Or even in Las Vegas taking a chance on the roll of the dice!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First of all I would love to give a big ‘shout out’ and thank you to my beautiful and wonderful daughter for giving me a reason to live unselfishly. As well as teaching me true unconditional love. Also for believing in me as her father and my own dreams of being an artist and musician. She has been very supportive of me in this way! Not to mention she has taken what I have taught her in this area and grown her own abilities and passion for this talent. Feel free to check out her RedBubble.com account at https://www.redbubble.com/people/marina-mayyy/shop?utm_source=rb-native-app&utm_campaign=share-artist&utm_medium=ios
where she sells prints of her creations. Some excellent work for sure!

I volunteered at her elementary school from kindergarten to sixth grade one a day a week for an hour to teach her and her classmates art. Sadly this is a subject that has tended to fall out of many academic institution’s curriculums. How will we nurture and discover the next greats like Van Gogh or Da Vinci if we aren’t even giving them the opportunity to be creative? She had been around me at home being creative with her and by myself. By volunteering I would have been happy to influence just one child in the process. I never dreamed I would influence her the most, the most important to me. I can’t speak for the other kids as I don’t know where any of them are now. I can only hope. I’m satisfied though as my mission was accomplished!

The other person I can’t fail to mention in this is Samantha Jones my amazing and beautiful wife! She has been a huge factor in my success. Her love, encouragement, faith and support have truly changed my life and made all this possible. Her and I also have a podcast we record and produce weekly together. We just released our 205th episode and celebrated our show’s fourth anniversary. It is called ‘Spiritual Philos-O-Chatter with the Joneses’ and can be found on all platforms by searching @spiritualjoneses. Samantha also has her own weekly internet radio show called ‘Beyond the Bridge’ on VoiceAmerica.com on the empowerment channel She’s pretty incredible, have a listen!

So thank you and all my love to these two amazing women in my life!

Website: DJonesArtCollection.com

Instagram: @djonesartcollection @djones71photography

Facebook: @djonesartcollection

Image Credits
Marcos Manrique