Jon Luce

Jon Luce has an unconventional spirit and it translates into his art. His art is a dichotomy. While his work is always refined and aesthetically beautiful he enjoys challenging with shocking or unexpected subject matter. He asks us through his work to look past convention, to push past our comfort zones and to explore the truth that only our “shadow selves” can provide. Jon’s perspective of himself being an artist was much the same as most of us. Growing up he always loved the arts and enjoyed being creative but never thought of himself as an artist. It took meeting his muse and soul mate as an adult to help him awaken the slumbering artist that had always been inside of him. He was born and raised in Southern California. Jon’s family was always supportive of any artistic endeavors he had as a kid. He played several instruments. At an early age Jon was able to see art that inspired him in things that most people considered kid’s stuff. He appreciated artists like Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, Frank Miller, Stephen Platt and Simon Bisley began to fill his comic book bins solely for the art. Cartoons and their art were important too. Not just Transformers, He-Man and G.I.Joe, but the art of Robotech, Akira, The Dark Crystal, Heavy Metal and Liquid Television began to mold and shape him. He grew up as most people do and got a job at the end of high school, moving through different careers and positions of all types. All the while he would doodle or draw funny pictures for friends and family, still not considering that he could be an artist. During this time he met his wife and soul mate Denise. Jon says, “If not for meeting someone like her and being all I can be for her, I may have never tried to be an artist. I married my perfect bride on Halloween, our favorite holiday." His friends also encouraged him to do tattoos. He had loved some of the evolving artists like Paul Booth, Robert Hernandez, Jun Cha and Carl Grace, so with his wife's encouragement and his friends connections, fate led him to an apprenticeship. To further develop his art, Jon took a variety of art classes at FJC. That experience shifted Jon’s paradigm. He began to see other great artists besides the well-known Picasso, DaVinci, etc. He saw a plethora of art in many forms. He not only got to appreciate the work of old masters, but was equally inspired by some of the students sitting right next to him in class. Jon is an eternal student, after graduating apprenticeship, he has continued his learning and schooling and continues to this day. He is a freelance tattoo artist and could not be happier. When he is not drawing and tattooing ideas for other people, he spends his time creating his own weird and twisted art. “I have a strange view of things sometimes and grew up with strange influences such as H.R. Giger and Clive Barker and movies like Legend, Hellraiser and Nightmare on Elm Street. I am slightly morbid and dark sometimes, like my suicidal veggie line of paintings, but also love to see beauty in all things."