Paving the Way. Women Share Their Stories

Caroline Jones has always been a passionate artist, and she knew early on that creating artwork was both doing what she loved and a viable way to live and make a living. She calls herself an “Umbrella Artist,” one that uses both her innovational freedom to make collections or series of works to exhibit in galleries, as well as being disciplined and resourceful by using that same skill set to make ends meet. Pursuing her vocation in fine art and sculpting throughout her life has evolved into the creation of powerful, artistic monuments and memorials for clients.

As a child, Caroline had wanted to be a farmer because she loved animals and nature, a special constant force in her life, especially when she was sent to boarding school at age 7. Looking after her little garden plot and rabbit made her feel joyful!

“I was so excited about nature's abundance,” she notes. “It was like going on a treasure hunt every day.” It is with this sense of nature as a life force that she has become more involved with how the future of green cemeteries can be as much about land conservation as it can be about land restoration.

After finishing her A-levels at school, she was determined to pursue becoming an artist, much to her parents’ chagrin. So at 18, Caroline began painting on the streets of Gibraltar where her father was a commander in the British Army. She earned enough money selling her works that she bought her parents’ car from them and moved to Spain. For the past 30 years Caroline has had a consistent Fine Art practice with exhibitions, galleries and studios from Hong Kong and London to present-day L.A., where her studio sits at the top of Saddle Peak @thedomehometopanga. She attributes her success to “rebellious discipline,” a term she has coined for her journey.

“I’ve never had a mentor as such but have definitely been inspired by the strengths and goodness of many friends,” she says, adding that she strives to balance work, family and community while doing what she loves.

One of her favorite aspects of creating her pieces comes from feeling the “time-captured presence inside [a] stone,” she says. “I use that presence to immortalize those who have passed and to make something meaningful for the loved ones; I feel it connects the souls of the living and the dead.”

Caroline’s clients sing her praises.

“I think for me the best awards are those bestowed on me by people who have bought my art or who have commissioned my work and have been truly inspired by what they received,” she shares.