MY 10 YEARS with ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS Magazine

After leaving Paper House in 2012, I was faced (for the first time in my career) with absolutely no plan or prospects whatsoever. I was out of the toy and greeting card industry..even if I went freelance, I had no studio and no clients. I had a small room in my house that could become my work space, I had the remains of my FAB and Paper House studio’s in terms of books and materials and that was it. So, facing ruin … I did what anyone in their right minds would do… go on holiday!

Julian and I went to stay with my great friends (Pete and Gaynor) in Spain, basically..to lick my wounds and try to figure out my future. During this time Julian said he would buy me a computer and with some acute soul searching, I realised I should become what I had always wanted to be.. an ARTIST, and with that ..MJ/PA (Matthew Jeanes Professional Artist) was born.

I had painted my one new piece (Morning Ladies) at the end of my Paper House journey, that seemed to have gone down really well, So I would try to paint more. Peter (bless him) gave me my first commission.. and tasked me to paint something for them. Hence LA COCINA VENTANA (The Kitchen Window) was born. A big, challenging piece was from a photo I took early in the morning in their kitchen. It went really well.. the freedom of my new found passion literally rolled out of my fingers and onto the page.. I was free again.

I had followed the ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS magazine for some years, I had always seen it as the best art magazine as it covered all types of work, not just amateur painters. So, in a bold move I entered LA COCINA VENTANA into their ‘Artist of the Year’ competition in the STILL LIFE category. I had never entered anything before so I was thrilled when it came 13th. This sounds a long way down, but when you think that that was out of the whole country.. it wasn’t bad.. (with THAT said.. they could have only had 13 entries )

I had done some teaching in the past (Adult Art evening classes) and had put that on my entry form, the (then) editor Steve, got in touch, said he loved my painting and asked if I would consider writing an article for them, I was scratching around for any work I could find and had a lovely little portrait of a young girl to paint, I thought I would use that as a subject.. and I wrote my first article for the magazine.

The following year I entered ANOTHER piece of art for their competition, this piece was an accidental commission.. I was called out to take photographs of an elderly couple at their home for a painting, when their dog (CAMPBELL) jumped into the shot, the photo came out so well, I painted THAT picture instead of them. I entered this for Artist of the Year and THIS TIME I came runner up (4th) out of hundreds of entries. I was invited to exhibit the piece as part of the winners exhibition at the Mall galleries in London and it was covered in the magazine… the painting was on the cover with the other winners. The rest, as they say is history.. over 10 years later and working with various editors from Steve Pill to the wonderful Niki Browes, the magazine has been amazing. I’ve had two covers of my own and they have inspired me to take chances and keep painting when I may not have done so without an incentive . It’s not the most lucrative work.. but I have appreciated them and for 10 years and 39 articles later.. (including this months June 2025 edition), Hopefully I can get it to 40!

MY OWN WORK has been published.

Thank you for that and your impact on my work and life.

Incidentally, my own dog, Poppy’, has featured in SIX articles over the years (paint your pet and others) which surely makes her the MOST featured dog in the magazine’s history.🤣