Meet Esther L Jones | Artist, Ceramicist and Music Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Esther L Jones and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Esther L, can you share the most important lesson you’ve learned over the course of your career?
There have been so many lessons my businesses have taught me! Yes, I have had and still have several businesses–you might call them streams of income. Currently I teach music; piano, voice and guitar from my home, and I create paintings in soft pastel and functional and sometimes funky pottery.

But I think the most important lesson my businesses are teaching me right now is that I must define what success means for myself.

I’ve realized that I could be making $250,000 a year sitting in a cubicle or a conference room or a classroom doing things I hate and am not skilled for, and I would be unfulfilled, bitter, and fail to add anything good to the world. I’d have financial security, sure. But my life would be a waste.

Or I can run my own creative business, make a difference in the lives of others, and allow creativity to flow through me to my collectors and the world. I am fulfilled, joyful, and know that in my humble, bumbling way I’m adding good to the world. I find that money is so much less important than having that kind of life.

Running a business is hard, and sometimes frustrating and often fails to provide a living wage. But it is so much more fulfilling and joyful than working for someone else who only wants to get the most out of me without any concern for whether my life is well-rounded and healthy, or whether the success they are trying to achieve is even a success that is worthwhile.

I define my own terms of success. I work from my why…not someone else’s. I listen carefully to that why and tweak my definition as needed. I follow delight in myself that brings good to the world and my work–and that’s harder than it sounds, but so much more successful than any other path for me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My story starts with a summer camp when I was a child. I wanted so bad to learn to draw so I could draw a portrait of my mother. So my parents enrolled me in the only option available in my little town: an art camp being offered at the elementary school. Without meaning to, I’m sure, the teacher and my observations of the other students gave me reason to believe that I was no artist. Somehow I thought that a person is either born an artist and already knows how to draw, or they are not, and nothing can be done about.

The story could have ended there, but looking back I see that my parents are actually both creative in their own ways, and I picked up on that. They also gave me piano and voice lessons, and I followed that path.

My husband was killed in a hit-and-run accident in 1998. I became quite busy as a single mom of four. It was very hard, but eventually I went back to school to finish my teaching degree and got a job as a general music teacher in an elementary school. One good thing that came out of that job was finding my art buddy and friend. Another was having a little discretionary income to spend on art supplies!

It wasn’t until I was 53 years old and had just recovered from cancer that I began to find my inner artist and paint and draw. I kept it a secret for many months! Then I revealed my progress to my family, who were very encouraging and to my co-worker Kathy who became my art buddy and friend.

My 2D art comes from a place of deep appreciation for and fascination with the universe God has created. Color is my muse, which is why I began not with drawing but with painting using soft pastels…they are SO brilliant and immediate. I love painting florals, landscapes, and pets as well as abstracts. Pottery is a return to an earlier love, and I enjoy coming up with new ideas for functional pottery. I’m always humbled and amazed at what flows through me to the easel and the mud…it’s like divine magic to me, and I love sharing it with the world and inviting others into that divine magic.

Teaching children music and art one on one lights up my life. Children are amazing humans and I love mentoring them and getting their perspective on the world. I’ve been given the nickname “Magical Freaking Unicorn Teacher” by some of my students! If I could share one thing with parents it would be to point out that allowing their kids be so busy that they are never bored and never learn to think deeply and learn to entertain themselves is not healthy. I’m glad I was able to give my own children that space.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Fortunately I live in one of the most beautiful and exciting parts of Texas! Hopefully my best friend would visit during late March or April. We would take a road trip in the Hill Country to see all the beautiful fields of bluebonnets! Some early morning or late evening we’d rent a kayak and go paddling around on some of the gorgeous lakes in our area and enjoy watching the herons and eagles while soaking up the peaceful and pleasing surroundings. We’d eat some BBQ from Coopers or one of the other great BBQ places, and perhaps buy some tamales from a truck parked at the corner.

Then we’d take a walk down Main Street in Marble Falls and visit the galleries and shops, maybe stop for lunch at Oli’s or Darcy’s Deli. It’s possible we’d schedule a tour at Longhorn Caverns–I haven’t been in years, but it’s less than 10 minutes from me.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family has to get first mention here. No matter how hair-brained my ideas have been, they’ve always been encouraging and supportive! They love my art, too, which is unusual. Many artists have to learn to stand up to or ignore their family’s criticism. Not me! They all have my paintings on their walls and my pottery in their homes. They often remind me how they have seen me so unhappy in other careers, and how joyful I am as I pursue this dream.

Three others need to get mentioned here: my art buddy and good friend Kathy Meador. We met when she was the art teacher and I was the music teacher in the same school. She not only helped me cope with working in a job that is very difficult, but encouraged me in and taught me about art so that I blossomed quickly as a soft pastel artist.

Rafi Perez and Klee Angelie from rafiandklee.com have invested so much art-career mentorship into the world at large and me in particular that it wouldn’t be right not to mention them. I’ll never forget the day they offered to meet personally with me online while I was agonizing over quitting my job and starting my own business during the pandemic. One thing Rafi said that has stuck with me until this day is “The money will take care of itself.” That gave me the confidence to ‘go rogue’ and dive into creating my business.

Website: https://estherljones.com

Instagram: @estherljonesdotcom

Facebook: https://facebook.com/estherljonesdotcom

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNzDwwIyUT_4vqev6qw8AJA

Image Credits
Jenna Petty Photography (for the professional shots only. The rest are my own photos.) http://www.jennapetty.com/