Hi everyone, my name is J.J. Long and I am a self employed oil painter from Melrose, MA. This page is solely dedicated to my artwork and everything related to my art business called JJARTWORKS. On this page you can see my online portfolio that consists of landscapes, still lifes, figure studies, cityscapes, sunsets, and commission work depicted in the style of realism. My wish is for this page to be a place where artists can network and customers can contact me regarding purchasing paintings and prints. Please also visit my official website at www.jjartworks.com BIO
I feel it is important to let my audience know how I see when I create a work of art. My world of vision is slightly skewed from most other people. I have been legally blind in my left eye since birth. I'm not sure if this handicap is a blessing or a hardship when it comes to painting, but regardless, I'm afraid to paint any other way. I'm not sure how my blindness affects my painting or how my paintings would look if I had perfect vision, but the more I think about it, the more it scares me. I just paint with the same arsenal of tools that any other artist paints with; a lifetime of seeing the world through the same set of eyes day in and day out and the art education I've been fortunate enough to have throughout my lifetime.
At the University of New Hampshire I received a BA in Fine Arts with a focus in oil painting. I had never picked up an oil brush until college, but once I realized I could render objects with color I found a new passion at my feet.
Since college my life has taken many twists and turns. I'll be honest...I turned my back on my artwork for about two years after school because I use to say to myself, "No one ever makes it as an artist...I need a REAL job to pay off my bills and have security in my life". I'm sure the majority of artists have felt that way at some point in time where Corporate America has eventually sucked us in. We tend to turn our backs on our talents, doing what society tells us to do so we don't seem like failures. Well I'll be the first to say (which I'm sure I'm not) that being an artist IS A REAL JOB, actually a 24-7 job, where we are constantly creating and exposing ourselves to the world to be criticized and set up for failure. I believe it takes a certain temperament to do what we do, and without our driving force to create, we wouldn't have meaning and purpose in our lives.
My artwork is a direct reflection of who I am. I don't paint uncharacteristic to my personality as a human being. Everything I do on canvas is premeditated, from the start of the composition to the last brush stroke. My style is realism and I choose compositions that engage me through color, shape, and narrative. My subject matter includes anything and everything. I don't like to pigeon hole myself as a certain type of painter because I constantly want to be developing my craft and my creativity throughout the years. Tomorrow I may be an abstract painter…who knows. Thanks for taking the time to visit my myspace page and have fun perusing!
Cheers,
-J.J.

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