Reviews

My first encounter with Peter Jonas’s art was during my first visit to Cape Town in 1995. I’ve always been drawn to murals and often photograph them, so when I stumbled upon a beautiful mural depicting what became ‘my’ Table mountain, the ocean, and a face adorned with the colors of the South African flag, I was captivated. The peaceful energy of the scene stayed with me.

Later that week, at a dinner party, I couldn’t help but mention this stunning mural. As I described it, someone at the other end of the table said, ‘I painted that mural.’ That someone was Peter Jonas. We hadn’t even officially met yet! To my surprise, Peter later created a smaller version of that mural for me. The painting, which loosely translates as ‘Be Still Cape Town Listen to Your Heart,’ has hung proudly in my living room ever since. The name of the piece perfectly reflects how it feels to me—like the still peace of a heartbeat.

What I find equally impressive about Peter is that he is not just a talented artist but also an inspiring educator. Over the years, he has worked on collaborative pedagogical projects with large groups of participants, encompassing people of diverse age works and abilities. His ability to creative engage diverse people are truly remarkable. As an educator myself, I admire the various ways he teaches through his art, engaging with people in a way that brings out their own creativity.

I believe that Peter’s ability to work with such diverse groups may be why his art speaks so profoundly to the heart. His work doesn’t just capture attention—it tells a story, evokes emotion, and reflects his unique perspective. It’s this depth, along with his well-rounded talents, that makes his art so special. I am honored to know him as both an artist and a friend

I am fortunate enough to own art works by Peter Jonas, and we created a short series of videos for the breakthrough creative to go on a YouTube channel, exploring how creative expression manifests, and how it gives meaning and nuances to life experience. Peter has a prolific and versatile talent, whether he is painting vibrant abstracts, voluptuous figurative works…or poignant political portraits of the heroes who helped South Africa transition out of Apartheid.

Peter has worked on commissioned mural projects with large groups of participants, of various age ranges and abilities. His social versatility and skills as an educator to engage a whole cohort of people working in unison is highly impressive and a treat to experience. Some of these participants have been in contact months or years later to say how much they enjoyed the project, or how a savannah mural enhanced an urban neighbourhood, or how they discovered themselves as artists through his tuition and support.

I believe that Peter is a world class artist who deserves wide and lasting recognition for the insight and beauty he has contributed.

May his collection of work continue to grow and find homes with the buyers who most appreciate his work!

I am very happy to provide a reference for Peter in relation to the remarkable impact he has had at Kingsmead School, Enfield (Performing & Visual Arts Specialist status) in terms of working with students and other artists to create a stimulating and thought-promoting colourful visual environment in the many communal areas of the school.

Peter has always shown amazing imagination and tremendous talent in his expertise at transforming drab transitional areas into gems of magic visually. Many students have learnt how to contribute to the creation of these murals as well as all of the students prizing the unique and exquisite environment thus created – all of which are pertinent to their adjacent curriculum area. I think that Peter is an absolute individual and genius in his capacity to generate such enthusiasm and response through that two-dimensional medium of large-scale image and colour.

As a tribute to the respect in which his work is held, no graffiti or vandalism has ever occurred subsequent to the introduction of one of his masterpieces. I hope that these celebrations to the impact of Art can eventually be more widely appreciated by an audience of experts and enthusiasts.

I had the pleasure of working with Peter Jonas in this summer’s Community Space Challenge project at Copley Close, Hanwell. http://www.muralpainting.co.uk

The project brief was to deliver a large (95sqm) mural, involving a range of community members including ‘at risk’ young people identified through the Youth Offending Service. The projects objective was to contribute to other initiatives to reduce the fear of and actual incidents of anti-social behaviour by instilling a sense of community. In this role, Peter excelled. Not only did he provide strong project management but demonstrated an awareness and understanding of the needs of the community in delivering an exceptional piece of community art. Peter’s dedication to the task was faultless and he went well beyond project expectations.

I would highly recommend Peter and www.muralpainting.co.uk for future projects and very much intend to utilise his exceptional talent in the future.

Firstly, I’d like to say thank you so much for all of your wonderful work on the Seneca Community Art Mural. Your contribution has been outstanding and we are truly delighted with what you have achieved.

Your support to the children, positive energy and enthusiasm working on this exciting project has been really admirable. We could not have asked for more talented artists, representing great community values, to work with. You were also very dependable and reliable and really helped me to manage this project more effectively and efficiently than I would have without you!

We were delighted to have the student’s involvement in this Art Project also as engaging with the local community is one of our main priorities. It was really great to see how much they respect you as a teacher and as a positive role model. They really were a delight to work with and it was fabulous to see how much dedication the children put into creating their art piece.

We hope that both you and the children are as proud as we are with what you have produced and we really would love for you and the children to attend the Unveiling of the Community Art Mural in July. This is, after all, your creative talent, your hard work, and therefor your wall.

We wish you all the best in your future career. Having spent a lot of time with you working on this project I have no doubt that you will be a fantastic asset to any school and continue to be a great role model for students.