FOR the past 20 years or for as long as he can remember, art has been a fundamental part of the life of 28-year-old Shimuel Jones.

You see, his father is an artist and has been for a long, time and naturally, something must have rubbed off on young Jones. In this case, his father’s talents did not passively rub off on him but perhaps the entire bucket of paint covered Shimuel.

“I grew up with him teaching me a few techniques,” Jones told the Pepperpot Magazine and shared: “I’ve been passionate about it since then.”

As passionate as he was, Jones spent a lot of his time wholly absorbed into creating his art. In fact, he joked, “When my friends and family think about me, that’s the first thing that comes to their head-art.”

He also took up his art seriously and pursued studies in Fine Arts at the University of Guyana (UG), where he graduated as the Best Graduating student in his field in 2013. And ever since then, he has been even more absorbed in his art.

Realism is the field of art Jones has been more inclined to. “I’m somewhat of a perfectionist [and] the intention is always to be an artist that does a portrait that captures all the facial features perfectly or as perfect as I can,” he highlighted.

Furthermore, he explained that as an artist he is wired differently from everyone else. Shimuel posited: “The better part of being an artist is seeing the things that a regular person wouldn’t see. I’m able to see the world in a whole different way. As an artist the way you see the world is different from anyone else because that’s your career,” he said. “So when you look at someone’s face, for example, I’m seeing how the light hits their face, the shade, the light, the dark.”

Aside from being an artist every second of the day, Jones also has a second-day job which-surprise surprise- also involves art. Here, he is the customer service manager for a company that sells art.

This is why it really is no surprise that when his loved ones think about him, they immediately think about art. They understand that it’s perhaps his raison d’etre.

“I’ve already concluded that I’m going to be an artist for the rest of my life,” he said. He also affirmed that with this mindset, he has the bare minimum to do, to tread this path.

The artist said, “My job is to find a market for my art, find the people that are going to buy art [and since] I’ve already found that, it’s working out.” And in this regard, he has been surrounded by overwhelming support.

“Obviously, [the support] could’ve been better than it is but I don’t want to dwell on that. If you’re passionate about something, go for it,” Jones stressed.

In the same vein, he encouraged others to “just make it happen” with whatever they want to achieve in life.

“Make a decision, if you’re going to be an artist, be an artist and stop whining about it and just make it happen. If you can’t do that, don’t be an artist,” Jones stated.