Good morning, Swansea!
Tucked away in Mumbles, a local artist is building large, textured works inspired by the movement and power of the sea.
Jo Frost creates mixed-media paintings that are sculpted, layered, and worked back by hand. From plaster relief and metallic leaf to resin finishes, each piece is built to capture the energy of a scene.
We sat down with Jo to talk about leaving teaching, working at scale, and why the coast continues to shape everything she makes.
Catch you on Sunday!
Andrew.
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On taking the plunge
Jo trained and worked as an art teacher before deciding to finish teaching in the early 2000s. After starting a family and relocating to Wales, she decided to focus on her own practice.
“I was head of art in a large secondary school, and I left with the imminent arrival of my daughter, my third child… After being at home, which I had always dreamed of doing, I started to have itchy feet and wanted to return to my own artwork. I consciously made the decision that I would not return to teaching, and that I would explore my own creativity again.”
On Being Inspired by Gower
Jo lives and works in Mumbles, with the Gower coastline forming a backdrop to her day-to-day life - feeding directly into how she thinks about scale, space, and movement in her work.
“Walking the Gower coastline gives me space - physical space, emotional space, creative space… The scale of the sea, the wind, and the sky resets me. So much of my work is about the sense of breathing again, of being small inside something much bigger and more alive. I couldn’t live away from the coast again.”
On Influence and Experimentation
Studying the work of other artists has always been part of Jo’s process. Certain works changed how she thought about what art could be, and what materials and ideas she felt she should use.
“I’m addicted to artists. When I come across work I love, I become passionate about it… Artists like Anselm Kiefer opened doors for me - not just because of the scale, but because of the layering of ideas and mixed media. He made me realise that art isn’t just about paint or stone, it’s about all sorts of ways to express.”
On sculpting before painting
Although Jo is best known as a painter, her background is in sculpture. That training still shapes how she works today, with paintings built up physically before colour is ever considered.
“My degree was sculpture, so I sculpt my pictures first… I work with plaster, then layer colour and texture on top. Being a sculptor before being a painter means I’m very experimental.”
On the sea as sensation
Jo works directly on panels, building and removing material repeatedly, using force and movement to push the surface until it holds the energy she is trying to capture.
“I don’t want to just depict the ocean in a photographic way… I want people to almost smell the sea air, hear the ocean, and feel the salty air on their face. It’s the movement, the energy, and the power of the ocean that fascinates me.”
“When I’m working on large panels, it’s almost like a performance… I throw plaster, I build layers and take them off again. I get in a real mess, but I like that. The energy has to come from me.”
The gallery as a welcoming space
Jo’s gallery is the opposite of all the messy, hands-on work that goes into making her pieces - a space where you can really take in the scale, surface, and texture without distractions.
“I wanted the gallery to be a calm place… The artwork is arranged so it can breathe, with space around each piece. There’s no pressure to buy anything. People can come in, sit down, talk about art, and just enjoy being here.”
More About Jo Frost
Jo’s work is available to buy at JW Frost Fine Art Gallery at 79 Newton Road in Mumbles (SA3 4BN), where she also runs small mixed-media workshops from the studio. Her paintings are also available to view and purchase online at jwfrost.com.
Big thanks to Jo for sharing her story!
I’ll catch you on Sunday!
Andrew.
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