ARCHIVED ARTICLES
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11th November 2021
11 November 2021 Today we are delighted to announce the addition of two very different new products to the Scene & Word Store. Around the year 1990, Jonah picked up a small sketchbook and painted in it a fantastical alphabet in watercolour, one letter to every page. Later in life […]
7th October 2021
7 October 2021 The relocation of twelve large dalle de verre windows from a closed church in Morfa Nefyn to the Catholic church of St David in Mold, Flintshire, has come a step nearer with the news that the church has been awarded £10,000 by The Pilgrim Trust. The grant […]
27th August 2021
27 August 2021 In July 2019 the transfer of Jonah Jones’ great mosaic of Christ the Holy Redeemer, from its original location in a church in Morfa Nefyn to the new Christ the Word Catholic School in Rhyl, was completed. As Michael Rieveley, whose firm Rieveley Ceramics carried out the […]
11th August 2021
11 August 2021 Twelve large dalle de verre windows by Jonah Jones removed in 2019 from a closed church in Morfa Nefyn have been greenlit for restoration before being newly installed in the Catholic church of St David in Mold, Flintshire. Dalle de verre (from the French for ‘glass slab’) […]
6th August 2021
6 August 2021 In recognition of the news that the Gwynedd slate landscape has recently been designated as a UNESCO world heritage site, we have chosen three fine examples of Jonah Jones’s inscription and sculpture work in the native Gwynedd slate. First up is the plaque for the Lloyd George […]
30th July 2021
31 July 2021 The Spring 2021 issue of the Welsh-language literary review O’r Pedwar Gwynt published an interview by Shelagh Hourahane (author of an excellent article on Jonah’s work, ‘Carving Our Inheritance’, in Planet, August/September 1987) with the artist and cultural historian Peter Lord, who has done so much to […]
27th July 2021
27 July 2021 During the past few months three more forgotten works by Jonah have come to light through their owners contacting us via the Oriel Jonah Jones ‘Tell us about lost work’ link. Colin Turnbull wrote to us about an unusual small abstract watercolour, signed by Jonah but undated, […]
3rd May 2021
3 May 2021 Open-market plans to develop the site of the former Resurrection of Our Saviour church in Morfa Nefyn have been refused by Gwynedd Council. The decision was recently upheld by planning inspectors following an appeal from the applicants. Gwynedd Council want to see, in coastal villages such as […]
14th January 2021
14 January 2021 St David’s Catholic Church in Mold, which is part of the Wrexham Diocesan Trust, has launched a Go Fund Me appeal for the repair of twelve dalle de verre windows. They were originally created by Jonah Jones in 1966 for a Catholic church in Morfa Nefyn, which […]
23rd November 2020
23 November 2020 We are saddened to hear that the historian and writer Jan Morris has died, aged 94, after a long, adventurous and daring life. She and her wife Elizabeth were neighbours and friends of Jonah and Judith, and decades ago, on her request, Jonah carved a headstone (“Here […]
23rd November 2020
23 November 2020 Scene & Word has uncovered what may be the only existing photograph of an exhibition of Jonah Jones’s work, which took place in his one-time workshop at Tremadog Market Hall in 1968 or 1969. He left no record of the show, but it may have been held […]
23rd November 2020
23 November 2020 We have added a new range of photo print products to the Scene & Word store. These differ technically from the existing range of fine prints in being printed on 200 GSM Universal Photo Paper rather than Giclée printed on archival-quality cotton paper. They are based on […]
3rd August 2020
3 August 2020 Scene & Word has supported an online appeal for donations to Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, where the Jonah Jones Centennial Exhibition was held in 2019. As Plas Glyn-y-Weddw welcomes back customers after being closed for an extensive period during the Covid-19 crisis, they depend heavily on public support […]
3rd August 2020
3 August 2020 North Walian Mike Lewis, who now lives in Banbury, recently used the ‘Tell us about Lost Work’ feature on Oriel Jonah Jones to bring a small sculpture by Jonah to our attention. It is a miniature version, about 20 cms high, of The Bathers, which was a […]
3rd August 2020
3 August 2020 On 8 July Jonah’s biographer Peter Jones was interviewed on Radio Cymru’s ‘Dros Ginio’. The topics discussed were Jonah’s path to becoming an artist; his wartime experience, including joining 224 Parachute Field Ambulance as an unarmed medic, service in Northwest Europe, and taking part in the liberation […]
3rd June 2020
3 June 2020 A guest post by the poet Tony Curtis, the Emeritus Professor of Poetry at the University of South Wales, was published on the Seren Books blog to mark this year’s International Conscientious Objectors Day on 15 May. In his post Professor Curtis reflected on notable COs within […]
27th March 2020
27 March 2020 Using the Oriel Jonah Jones ‘Tell us about Lost Work’ facility, a former international rugby player has brought a long-forgotten sculpture by Jonah Jones to the attention of Scene & Word. John Willcox was a pupil at Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire, from 1948–54. In 1959 Jonah was given […]
12th January 2020
12 January 2020 A familiar photograph of Jonah Jones taken in 1997 in his studio at the Cartŵn Cymru office in Llandaff appears in a remarkable new book of photographs by Bernard Mitchell, Pieces of a Jigsaw, subtitled ‘Portraits of Artists and Writers of Wales’, published by Parthian Press. Another […]
8th January 2020
8 January 2020 We are very sad to hear that Sybil Crouch, the former chair of the Arts Council of Wales, recently died. She was a Swansea Labour councillor who has been described by Rob Stewart, the leader of Swansea Council, as “a passionate campaigner, dedicated hard-working councillor [and] a […]
10th December 2019
10 December 2019 Book Oxygen, a website whose mission is providing ‘breathing space for books and writers’, has nominated Dear Mona: Letters from a Conscientious Objector the first of its selection of notable books for 2019. Lesley Glaister’s review concludes by saying that she felt ‘privileged to have had access […]
15th November 2019
15 November 2019 Peter Jones, director of Scene & Word Ltd and the biographer of Jonah Jones, gave an illustrated talk on the artist’s life and work to the Radyr branch of Merched y Wawr on 6 November, which was received enthusiastically. Their Welsh-language review of Peter’s lecture is in […]
12th July 2019
29 July 2019 The large mosaic of Christ the Holy Redeemer, which once stood behind the altar in the Church of the Resurrection of Our Saviour, Morfa Nefyn (closed in 2016) has started a second life in a new school in Rhyl. A firm of tiling experts, Rieveley Ceramics of […]
23rd May 2019
23 May 2019 In recent years Swansea University’s Taliesin Arts Centre has gone through some major physical changes, which involved extensive building works on the lower floor. While the works were in progress, the large hexagonal Welsh slate plaque commemorating the opening of the arts centre, designed by Jonah and […]
13th May 2019
13 May 2019 We are very proud to announce the launch of the Jonah Jones Gallery/Oriel Jonah Jones, a long-term project to catalogue and display all his known work in a definitive online resource. For over a decade this major initiative has been on Scene & Word’s list of aims […]
13th May 2019
13 May 2019 Adam Somerset looks back on the life and work of one of Wales’ most celebrated sculptors, Jonah Jones, in his centenary year. The full text of the article is reproduced below. Tap away, tap away, it was a wonderful sound. The centenary of Jonah Jones, born […]
7th May 2019
7 May 2019 Peter Jones, the editor of Dear Mona: Letters from a Conscientious Objector, will be talking about the book at Cardiff Central Library from 5.45pm on Thursday 16 May 2019. The discussion will be part of the library’s ‘Open Space: a place to share creative work’ monthly programme […]
27th February 2019
27 February 2019 Closed in 2016, the Catholic Church of the Resurrection of Our Saviour contained a remarkable set of 12 dalle de verre windows by Jonah Jones and one of his finest mosaics, this one depicting Christ the Holy Redeemer. The Diocese of Wrexham deserves praise for its enlightened […]
27th February 2019
27 February 2019 Menna Baines in Barn: Swansea, February 2019: “Dear Mona is a remarkable record of how this generous and enlightened lady [was] not only a help but an inspiration for Jonah.” Buzz Magazine: Cardiff, January 2019: “These are letters from the heart and the mind… He’s good company: […]
21st February 2019
21 February 2019 There has been extensive media coverage across Wales of the centennial exhibition at Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw. Aired on 12 February and presented by Angharad Mair, S4C’s evening magazine television programme Heno paid a visit to the exhibition and included interviews with Jonah’s son Peter (Pedr), Gwyn Jones […]
30th January 2019
30 January 2019 Some 200 guests attended the opening of the exhibition at Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, Llanbedrog, Pwllheli on 26 January, many of whom had travelled considerable distances to be there. Following an introduction by Gwyn Jones, the gallery’s director, the exhibition was opened by David Townsend Jones, who spoke […]
30th January 2019
30 January 2019 Bringing the next generation – Jonah’s grandchildren – onto the board has added new skills that enable Scene & Word to engage with a wider audience through social media. A new Facebook page (search for ‘Scene & Word’) will soon be augmented on other platforms.
30th January 2019
30 January 2019 Two new directors, both grandchildren of Jonah, have joined the Scene & Word board: Daniel Trodden and Robin Ritter-Jones. Daniel is principal tuba player for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Robin is a teacher and musician.
3rd January 2019
3 January 2019 Peter Jones delivered a lecture titled ‘The Life and Work of Jonah Jones’ to the Contemporary Art Society for Wales on Saturday, 23 February, as part of the group’s monthly Saturday talk series at Lisvane Memorial Hall, Cardiff.
3rd January 2019
3 January 2019 At the end of the month, Scene & Word will publish a paperback edition of The Gregynog Journals. The book was first published in casebound (hardback) format in 2010, in a limited edition of 350. The whole edition was printed in full colour on acid-free, cotton-rich mould-made […]
11th December 2018
11 December 2018 Whitchurch and Llandaff Living has published a two-page, 1,500-word article by Peter Jones about the newly published book Dear Mona: Letters from a Conscientious Objector by Jonah Jones. The magazine circulates 6,000 copies in north-west Cardiff.
7th September 2018
7 September 2018 On 8 October Seren Books published Dear Mona, a new book by Jonah Jones and his son and biographer Peter Jones. The new book was launched before an invited audience at Insole Court, Llandaff on Wednesday 14 November 2018. In the words of the announcement on the […]
16th June 2018
16 June 2018 2019 will be Jonah’s centennial year and to celebrate it a lifetime retrospective exhibition of his work is being organised at Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, Llanbedrog, Pwllheli, for six weeks from 27 January to 17 March 2019. The wide-ranging show will include examples of his sculptures, paintings, lettering […]
8th June 2018
8 June 2018 The Catholic Church of the Resurrection of Our Saviour, which contains dalle de verre windows and a mosaic by Jonah Jones, has been sold having been closed in 2016 [click here for story]. Both Beresford Adams, the estate agent dealing with the sale, and Rebecca Garratt, Business […]
1st January 2018
1 January 2018 Fr Matthew Power SJ, the former Superior of the old Jesuit retreat centre at Loyola Hall, in Rainhill on Merseyside, has informed Scene & Word Ltd that some of Jonah Jones’s work in the chapel there has been relocated by the Jesuit Province. Following the closure of […]
9th August 2017
9 August 2017 Mumbles, the seaside village on the Gower edge of Swansea, has been twinned with Hennebont, a historic town of some 15,000 people in southern Brittany, since 2004 and the two communities have developed strong links and close friendships. In June 2017 a party from Mumbles Community Council […]
17th November 2016
17 November 2016 The Winter 2016 issue of Art and Christianity, the quarterly journal of Art & Christianity Enquiry (ACE), carries a full-page review of Peter Jones’s book Jonah Jones: An Artist’s Life. The reviewer, John Morgan-Guy, is Acting Chaplain at the University of Wales Trinity St David, Lampeter. “As […]
26th October 2016
26 October 2016 On Friday 11 November Jonah’s son and biographer, Peter Jones, will be giving an illustrated talk titled ‘The Celtic Tradition in Art: The Life and Works of Jonah Jones’ at Norton Village Hall, 7 Norton Avenue, Mumbles, Swansea SA3 5TP. The talk for the Twinning Association of […]
24th October 2016
24 October 2016 Too often Scene & Word has had to report on threats to the public work of Jonah Jones, or highlight cases of damage. So it is good to find instances of well-preserved work at churches that are not facing imminent closure. Members of the Board of Scene […]
22nd October 2016
22 October 2016 The i newspaper on 22 October carried a photo of Prince Charles signing a book of remembrance for the Aberfan victims at the village’s community centre. Jonah Jones’s plaque commemorating the opening of the centre by the Queen in 1973 can be seen prominently behind the Prince […]
12th June 2016
12 June 2016 The Church of the Resurrection of Our Saviour at Morfa Nefyn on the Llŷn Peninsula, which contains important artwork by Jonah Jones, has been included on a list of churches to be closed by the Catholic Diocese of Wrexham. Faced with falling congregations and the difficulty of […]
22nd January 2014
22 January 2014 The four large windows made by Jonah Jones for the Catholic Church of the English Martyrs at Hillmorton, in Rugby, Warwickshire, have been dismantled and the glasswork has now been lost for the future. Jonah made the dalle de verre (slab glass) windows during 1965–66. Each was […]
22nd January 2014
22 January 2014 A large cache of letters written by Jonah Jones during the years of the Second World War to his friend and mentor Mona Lovell has thrown new light on his emergence as an artist. Mona was the librarian at Felling public library on Tyneside, where Jonah got […]
28th August 2013
28 August 2013 Scene & Word has learned that the Loyola Hall Spirituality Centre at Rainhill on Merseyside, where the chapel contains important artwork by Jonah Jones, is to close after Easter 2014. During 1965–66 Jonah made a pair of large stained glass windows for Loyola Hall based on the […]
28th March 2013
28 March 2013 An article by Menna Baines published in Barn, March 2013, looked at two exhibitions showing at the National Museum of Wales, witness to the very different talents and visions of two generations of the same family in the world of art: those of Jonah Jones in The […]
30th January 2013
30 January 2013 An exhibition surveying Jonah’s work, ‘Jonah Jones: Y Gair/The Word’, is on show in Gallery 13 at the National Museum of Wales until 7 April 2013. The show provides an introduction to Jonah’s output and explores his own statement that the Word in all its forms was […]
30th January 2013
30 January 2013 Reviews of Jonah Jones: an Artist’s Life, the biography by Peter Jones (Seren Books, 2011, ISBN 978-1-85411-556-0), have been published in the New Welsh Review and Planet.
1st November 2012
1 November 2012 Peter Jones is to deliver the annual T Rowland Hughes Lecture at Bangor University, giving an illustrated talk on the development of Jonah Jones’s visual art. The lecture, which is being supported by the North West Wales branch of the Art Fund, will take place in the […]
30th September 2012
30 September 2012 The dates for a new exhibition, ‘Jonah Jones: The Word/Y Gair’, have been confirmed by the National Museum of Wales/Amgueddfa Cymru. The event will take place in Gallery 13 at the NMW between 8 December 2012 and 7 April 2013. The exhibition will be based around Jonah’s […]
1st July 2012
1 July 2012 An article published online on BBC North West Wales News on 30 April 2012 also announced the proposed plan to move Y Bont to the adjacent redeveloped St David’s Hotel. It includes rare BBC TV archive footage about Jonah dating from 2002. Subsequent update: this proposal did […]
30th June 2012
30 June 2012 The wall sculpture Y Bont was successfully removed from the disused students’ accommodation at Coleg Harlech over the weekend of 23–24 June 2012, and has been securely and safely stored. The removal was carried out by an expert team from Swansea Metropolitan University under the direction of […]
30th April 2012
30 April 2012 An article published in the Cambrian News on 26 April 2012 announced a proposed plan to move Jonah Jones’s sculpture Y Bont from the condemned students’ block at Coleg Harlech to the redeveloped St David’s Hotel on a site adjacent to the college campus. Subsequent update: this […]
10th February 2012
10 February 2012 A party was held at the Kooywood Gallery in Cardiff on 3 February to launch Jonah Jones: an Artist’s Life and Jonah Jones: The Gregynog Journals. The biography, written by Peter Jones, was published recently by Seren Books. The Gregynog Journals, edited by David Townsend Jones, was […]
8th November 2011
8 November 2011 Scene & Word exhibited the collectors’ set ‘An Artist’s Life in Wales’ at the 2011 UK Fine Press Book Fair at Oxford Brookes University on 5–6 November 2011. Photographs: D T Jones.
5th November 2011
5 November 2011 The following press release was issued by Gregynog Hall on 3 November 2011: A collectors’ presentation set, including a new book based on the journals of late Welsh artist Jonah Jones during his year as Gregynog Arts Fellow, has been presented to Gregynog Hall, near Newtown, by […]
8th August 2011
8 August 2011 The future of the wall sculpture Avo Penn Bid Pont (which is more familiarly known as Y Bont), currently in the students’ refectory at Coleg Harlech, continues to cause concern due to the imminent demolition of the building in 2012. While there have been expressions of interest […]
20th July 2011
20 July 2011 A wooden rood cross carved by Jonah in the 1980s has been given a new home at St Mary’s Church, Tenby. The Christus Rex figure had been in St Alban’s Church, Llanelli, which closed earlier this year. The cross is now the focal point of the Garden […]
16th May 2011
16 May 2011 An article by Jonah Jones’s son David Townsend Jones, who edited and produced Scene & Word’s first book, The Gregynog Journals, has been published in Parenthesis No. 20 (Spring 2011), the journal of the Fine Press Book Association. The article was commissioned by Sebastian Carter, UK editor […]
23rd April 2011
23 April 2011 On 2 February the Welsh-language weekly magazine Golwg published an interview with Peter Jones about Jonah Jones’s life and work. The same issue carried a report on the campaign to find a new home for Jonah’s wall sculpture Y Bont at Coleg Harlech. Golwg quoted a spokesman […]
23rd April 2011
23 April 2011 The biography Jonah Jones: an Artist’s Life by Peter Jones has been published by Seren Books. It can be ordered on http://www.serenbooks.com/book/jonah-jones-an-artists-life/9781854115560
3rd April 2010
3 April 2010 Jonah’s wall sculptures Justice and Mercy are at the centre of a complete refurbishment recently completed at Mold Law Courts, Flintshire. As part of the project the sculptures were repaired and the walls returned to their original duck egg blue colour as seen in slides taken by […]
2nd March 2010
2 March 2010 Because Jonah did not keep a full log of all his artwork as he carried it out, many of his creations have slipped into relative obscurity and in effect await rediscovery. Tracing pieces by Jonah can be like detective work, drawing on references in letters or journals, […]
17th November 2009
17 November 2009 Episode 3 in the ‘Hidden Histories’ series for BBC Cymru Wales, produced by Element Productions in association with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, will be shown on Tuesday 17 November 2009 at 7.30 pm on BBC Two Wales. It will include […]